


Hacking To The Light

by Subtlety Lost (fishstic)



Series: Hard Light Redemption [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Autistic Satya "Symmetra" Vaswani, Canon Autistic Character, F/F, Trans Sombra (Overwatch), satya redemption arc, time skip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2018-12-12 05:46:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11730735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishstic/pseuds/Subtlety%20Lost
Summary: The world isn't built for people like her, Satya knows, but some day it will be. Some day. That's if Vishkar is telling the truth. The future will be perfect, everything will have a place. But does Satya actually have a place in the future Vishkar has planned? Is the future all it's cracked up to be? Or should she listen to the mysterious hacker who threatened not once, but twice, to kill her if she won't tell her what she knows?But does she even know anything?  The hacker says that Vishkar is lying, but how would Satya know? Everything she knows is Vishkar. Still, even with uncertainty backing her every move, Satya Vaswani is the kind of woman who could realign the stars in the sky.





	1. The LumeriCo Incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the summary is kind of weird, I was having trouble figuring out how to summarize the story without spoiling it.

Six months, that’s how long Satya was going to be in Mexico. Internships were a mandatory part of Vishkar’s educational process, and Satya was excited. Well, she had been excited until they told her she was going to Mexico. “I don’t even speak Spanish,” she told them. “So learn,” had been their reply, and learn she had.

(Or rather, she had tried. She couldn’t tell them that it was unreasonable to expect her to learn enough Spanish to hold her own in this internship in only a few months, even with the fervor which she learned languages—or really anything she cared about—it would take her at _least_ nine months to be passable—and they had only given her four, that would just give them an excuse to hold her back and not let her go. They wouldn’t have asked this of her if she wasn’t the best, but she couldn’t help feeling like they’d have given anyone else more time to prepare.)

She followed behind the woman she who was to be her boss, Maria she had said her name was. Vishkar was interested in a partnership with LumériCo, and that’s why they’d sent an intern. Honestly, if Satya was asked, it didn’t make a lot of sense to send a 15 year old intern who could barely understand Mexican Spanish (no one had told her it was different than Spain Spanish) to set up a partnership, but she trusted Vishkar knew what they were doing.

Maria led her into a room that was rather long and skinny, but very spacious even despite the table and twelve chairs taking up the center of it. “ _You’re not to leave this room,"_ Maria told her.

Satya looked around. It wasn’t too unlike the boardroom at Vishkar. She’d only been allowed in there once and the board hadn’t seemed too happy when she did. They had told her to ‘be more careful’ and ‘the world is dangerous that’s why you _must_ stay with who we tell you to stay with’ like having a couple dogs almost literally rip her arm off wasn’t enough to tell her to be more careful they had to make her feel like it had been her own fault.

“ _It is a very big room.”_ She hoped she wasn’t in here because she was  _already_ in trouble. She’d been here less than a week. She couldn’t have already done something wrong, could she?

“ _Yes, it’s a conference room. Wait here, I will be back with some of my coworkers,”_ Maria said.

“ _Can I ask why?”_ This was shaping up like she was _definitely_ in trouble. Was her Spanish that bad? Had she been insulting people without realizing it? Or… was it something else? Were they annoyed by her playing with her light constructs? She knew her teachers were, but… but it was so relaxing.

 _"You can, but it doesn’t mean I’ll answer,”_ Maria replied, as she turned around and left the room.

Satya nodded slightly, hoping that she didn’t seem as afraid as she was, and sat down in one of the chairs at the table in the center of the room. She looked around the room, noting everything about it carefully. The pictures hanging on the wall were straight, and the chairs around the table were all the same, with the same number on each long side and one at each end. She smiled happily. There was order, even when she was afraid.

“I see, you’re the one they sent,” a man said from the door.

Satya turned around in her chair and looked back at the man who had addressed her. He was kind of tall, and his glasses were crooked, so was his smile. Everything about him made her uncomfortable and she couldn’t really place why. “Who are you?”

“I’m surprised they sent a child.” He didn’t sound surprised, in fact maybe she heard it wrong, but he sounded _happy_.

Satya neither smiled nor frowned, she just stared. She wasn’t going to give him the dignity of an emotional reaction to that. There was something just _wrong_ about him and she really didn’t want to know what. “I’m fifteen, I’m not a child. What’s your name?”

“You don’t know? They send you all the way here from India, and didn’t bother to tell you anything about this company?” He sounded angry, or maybe annoyed, she’d always had trouble telling the difference between those.

“I’m not good at matching descriptions to people,” Satya said. If someone had warned her about a man who gave off such an unsettling vibe, maybe she would have known who he was. “If you expect me to know who you are, you’re probably the president, CEO, whichever works at this building.”

The man chuckled. Satya had to try really hard not to wince at the sound. “And do you know the President’s name?”

“Mendoza.” Satya was absolutely confident that it was the correct answer even if something bugged her. She was pretty sure that there were two presidents. But then, reading Spanish was a much worse skill for her than hearing it, so it’s possible she’d read her paperwork incorrectly.

“And my first name?” If she’d been wrong, he certainly didn’t sound nor act like it.

“Isn’t it rude to call you by your first name?” There wasn’t a single person in a position of authority over her that allowed her to call them by their first name, except Maria and she had promised to explain the reasoning for wanting to be called by her first name later.

Mendoza laughed. “Perhaps, but do you know what it is?” She was beginning to immensely dislike the sound of his voice, and everything else about him.

“Rodrigo?”

Mendoza smiled. “That’s right.” He walked over and started to reach out a hand.

Satya shook her head slightly and sat back a little in her chair. She _hated_ being touched and she couldn’t think of one good reason why he’d want to touch her.

“ _Mendoza, you lay one finger on my intern and I will_ ** _personally_  ** _feed you to the guard dogs,”_ Maria said.

Satya tried to look over Mendoza’s shoulder to see if Maria had brought her coworkers or if she’d just come back because she saw Mendoza enter the room.

Mendoza laughed and turned around. “ _You worry too much, Jiménez; I’m not going to hurt her._

“ _I am responsible for her, pendejo. You’re not going to toy with her the way you did your former intern.”_

_“Baseless accusations from a dog who couldn’t keep her mouth shut.”_

_“Should you two really be arguing about this in front of me?”_ Satya knew she was interrupting, but she hated seeing people argue, especially when she wasn’t entirely sure what they were arguing about. Plus, it was good to remind them that while she might not be very good at Spanish, she did mostly understand what they’d said.

Mendoza glared slightly over his shoulder at Satya and she immediately regretted speaking at all. “It doesn’t matter,” he said finally. “You know, you’d think that if Vishkar really wanted to partner with us, they’d have sent an actual agent, not some child.”

Satya started to say, again, that she wasn’t a child especially since she _really_ did not like the way he said ‘child’, but before she could Maria spoke instead.

“Vishkar has their reasons for sending Ms. Vaswani, and if you weren’t so useless you’d know what they are.” Maria stepped forward and Mendoza took a step back.

Satya tilted her head slightly and tried to make herself small. If there was going to be a fight (that’s what it looked like was going to happen) she’d really rather not be there for it.

“Do those reasons explain why she’s in a Vishkar uniform and not a LumériCo uniform?” Mendoza shot back. “Even you have to agree, she would look _much better_ in a LumériCo uniform.”

Why did it matter which uniform she’d look nicer in? She’d been promised she’d get to wear her Vishkar uniform because the material was sensory friendly to her. Maria knew that, Satya _knew_ Maria knew that because Maria had  _told her_ that it was why she didn’t have to wear a LumériCo uniform.

“You are the absolute worst person I have ever met. _Guillermo_ understands what is expected of Vaswani and _you_ couldn’t even be bothered to actually read your damn emails,” Maria snapped. “And frankly, I’m  _glad_ you don’t like her Vishkar uniform.”

“I’m confused,” Satya said. “Isn’t he the President? Is Guillermo also President? You said that like he outranks Mendoza.” She didn’t think it wise to ask about the last part, at least not while Mendoza was still in the room.

“What? Did he tell you that?” Maria asked as she walked up and put her hands on the back of Satya’s chair. “Mendoza is the Executive Assistant. He’s the guy the CEO, Guillermo, sends when he’s too busy to check on projects himself.”

“I think I read my papers wrong then,” Satya replied. “It’s okay, I can learn this. I’m just not the best at written Spanish, they didn’t give me a lot of time to learn. Mendoza’s not the president. You’re the Chief of Security, right? I got that part correct at least, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” Maria replied. “Satya, do you know why you’re here?” Satya could tell she was purposefully ignoring Mendoza who was gesturing rudely behind her.

“Internships are a mandatory part of being a student at Vishkar’s school,” Satya replied.

“I meant, specifically here at LumériCo.”

Satya thought about that considering everything she’d been told leading up to her coming here. LumériCo was having security issues. Vishkar had come forth with _Satya’s_ sentries because they were innovative and unknown to outsiders. ‘We showed them what the sentries are capable of, it’s up to you to show them how to make them work,’ she had been told.

“Because you’re having trouble with someone breaking into the Dorado site, and Vishkar wants me to show you how our security technology works.”

Maria smiled. “I was told specifically that you were the best at making things from nothing.”

“Not from nothing, from light,” Satya said. There was a very distinct difference between bending light into objects (technology) and making something out of nothing (magic). “Sentries, little… turret things? They have a laser, it can be set to stun people. I use them at school to keep people out of my room.” She then paused and added, “I suppose, if you need to use excessive force, upping the power output of the laser could, in theory, kill someone. I have no plans to test this theory.”

“Perhaps you can enlighten Mendoza then. Who designed the sentries?” Maria asked.

“I did.” Satya’s answer was firm and eager, Maria was testing her. She _liked_ being tested, it gave her a chance to prove herself.

“Who taught the Vishkar architects how to use and implement them?” Maria was smiling, this was a good sign. It meant she was doing well.

“I did.”

(She had, in fact, came up with the design and use of the sentries. It was important to her that people not mess with her stuff, so she’d had to find a way to keep people out of her room. Necessity is the mother of invention. At first, she’d be in trouble for doing this, but then someone else realized it could be useful elsewhere and they stopped being mad at her.)

“Who is Vishkar’s best architect?”

Satya started to reply that it was her, but while it was true that she _could_ out build and outperform everyone else at the school, she wasn’t sure she could out build the Utopaea architects just yet. “I’m not entirely sure overall, but I’m the best in the school.”

“You’re not sure?”

It didn’t seem like Maria was expecting that response, maybe she’d been told a name to expect, honestly Satya could have told her the name of the lead architect of the Utopaea project, but she really wasn’t sure who was _actually_ better. Someone can be in charge of something without being the best at it, a fact that usually annoyed Satya when she had to do group projects with an assigned leader who was terrible at the assignment.

“Given the chance,” Satya said picking at the joints of her prosthetic absentmindedly, “I may prove to be better than the architects that are working on Utopaea, but I am not sure, I haven’t honestly tried.” She thought for a second then continued, “I’m not sure I would be allowed to try. I am still a student. The best student, perhaps, but still just a student. The Utopaea designers are professionals and have been working with the technology for years.”

“The kid is a liability,” Mendoza said. “I suggest you send her back.”

Maria replied with something in Spanish that Satya absolutely could not understand, before turning to Satya and saying, “We’ll be going to Dorado next week. You’ll work with me there for the duration of your internship. Any questions?”

“I thought you said you were going to bring your coworkers?”

“I did.” Maria moved over slightly so that Satya could see what was by the door. Two dogs, one a German Shepard, the other something much bigger (possibly a Russian Wolf-Hound, honestly Satya was better at identifying snakes by morph than dogs by breed). “The German Shepard is Luka, and the other one is Saber.”

“I’m going to be working with dogs?” Satya asked. Dogs were not usually her friends, Cats? Snakes? Mice? Her friends. Dogs? Not so much.

“Is that a problem?” Maria asked. She seemed to be hesitant now, like she’d been about to call the dogs over so they could meet Satya.

“They… they won’t bite me will they?” Satya asked. She shouldn’t, honestly, be scared. She knew the dogs that attacked her when she was little were outliers and should not be counted. Most dogs did not attack people, and guard dogs rarely attacked someone they weren’t ordered to attack or who was not causing any harm.

“Have you been bitten by dogs before?” Maria’s voice betrayed a level of concern that gave Satya a bit of pause. Had no one told her?

Satya held up her prosthetic arm. “I lost my arm because of getting attacked by some dogs in a market when I was six,”  she replied. “If they’re nice to me, then it won’t be a problem.”

Maria nodded but still seemed hesitant, so Satya got out of her chair and walked over to the dogs herself.

“Hello, Luka, Saber, I’m Satya,” she said. She very carefully held out her hand for them.

The dogs tilted their heads at her curiously and sniffed her hand. For a brief moment, she was concerned that they were going to decide they don’t like her, but then the dogs licked her hand gently, panting happily.

“We will be just fine,” she declared. “The dogs and I will be a team.” She’d much rather work with dogs than Mendoza. At least with dogs you can usually tell when they’re about to bite you.

“Are you sure?” Maria asked.

“Positive.”

Mendoza threw up his hands and started to walk out of the room. “ _Good luck with your dogs, Jiménez.”_

The dogs growled at him as he passed by them, pushing up beside Satya protectively. After he had left the room, they stopped growling and sat down again.

“I’ve never seen them warm up to someone so quickly,” Maria noted. “Interesting.”

“Have they always hated Mendoza, or is that because he doesn’t like me?” Satya asked. “I didn’t want to ask while he was in here, but… what’s wrong with him?”

“They’d rip his throat out if I gave them the order,” Maria replied. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, he says child the same way people talk about their favorite food,” Satya said. “And why does he care what my uniform looks like? Why are you glad that he doesn’t like how I look in my uniform? Something isn’t right about him. I don’t like him, I don’t want to be in the same room as him.”

Maria blinked. “You have good instincts, Satya,” she said. “He’s… not a good man. I hate him, but I have to work with him, Guillermo won’t fire him because I don’t have proof.”

“Proof of what?” Satya asked.

“That he’s into children, Satya,” Maria replied.

“I don’t know what that means, but it sounds gross,” Satya said. “Is it like… like how… I mean…”

“Satya, you’re a good person, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by trying to explain it. Do you know what the word ‘pedophile’ means?”

“Oh, _that’s_ what you meant? That’s way more than gross,” Satya said quickly. “You’ll keep him away from me, right? He’s not gonna be able to do anything to me?”

“He won’t be anywhere near you again, not as long as I can help it,” Maria replied protectively. “Luka and Saber are not the only guard dogs, but from now until we leave for Dorado, they are your personal escorts. They will keep Mendoza away from you. I promise on my life, he isn’t going to hurt you.”

Satya nodded. “What kind of problems are you specifically having at Dorado?”

If Maria was thrown off in anyway by the change of tone and subject, Satya couldn’t tell. “A local gang known as Los Muertos has been vandalizing the site of the power plant we’re building there.”

“I see, and do you have any idea why they might be doing this?” There was usually a reason for these things, wasn’t there?

“To cause trouble,” Maria replied. “Or perhaps to try and sabotage construction.”

Satya nodded. Chaos for chaos’ sake, she hated that. Still, she could work with this. Bring order from the chaos. That was why she was here. Vishkar knew what they were doing when they sent her, she shouldn’t have doubted them. “Are there blueprints of the facility that I could have access to? It will help to know what the space I have to work with looks like before arrival, and what it’s planned to look like when it’s complete.”

Maria nodded as well. “I do,” she said. “Let me show you.”

* * *

It wasn’t exactly an internship, Satya learned later. She was a partner, an asset that neither Vishkar nor LumériCo could afford to lose. If she had been sent solely as an intern, she’d be working with the designer of the power plant, not the chief of security. Even so, she made it a point to mention things that she felt were structural weaknesses when she could; surprised, but only slightly, when people actually listened and her concerns were actually heard.

She’d been in Dorado for three days. She had neither seen nor heard Los Muertos the entire time. After six pm, and before ten am, she was allowed to go wherever she wanted and do whatever she wanted—within reason of course. She wasn’t allowed to leave Dorado, and she couldn’t break any laws (not that she would want to). That was why, at nine pm, on a Saturday she was headed to a bakery by the cliff side. No one could stop her. At least, no one she’d seen before.

She had turned down an alley, hoping for a shortcut and trying to follow the smell of the water which was her only indication of where the bakery might be. (She probably should have asked the person who told her about it for directions.)

“Hey.”

Satya stopped dead in her tracks. She was lost, and she’d admit that but she really hoped she hadn’t just accidentally wandered into some place she shouldn’t be. She looked around to try and see who was talking to her, but she didn’t see anything, or anyone.

“You seem lost, pobrecita.”

“I am,” Satya replied, still not actually seeing who was talking to her.

She heard a scraping sound, like rough shoes on rougher stone, and she looked up toward the rooves of the two buildings on either side of her that formed the alley she was standing in. She saw someone standing on one of them, and that person jumped down, thudding hollowly on the dumpster to her left before hopping off it to and landing in front of her.

Satya stared at the person, a girl probably (maybe that was jumping to conclusions she couldn’t entirely tell in the half-light but they looked soft and very _very_ pretty—Satya had never seen a boy she thought was pretty before—), whose face was painted with a neon green glowing skull. She supposed that she should have been intimidated, but she just thought it was kind of cute, especially with the person’s spiky pink and white Mohawk.

“You picked a bad place to be lost, kid.” They stepped up to her.

She didn’t move an inch. She wasn’t going to let this person scare her into running, she’d just get more lost that way. “Don’t call me a kid, you’re not that much older than me,” she replied. She wasn’t sure why, she had no actual way of knowing how old this person was.

To her relief, the person laughed. “You’ve got guts. Do you even know what I am?”

“Human?” It was a good guess at least, the person didn’t look like any omnic she’d ever seen before.

“You’re not from around here,” they replied.

Obviously, human had been both correct and not the intended answer. “No, and I’m lost.”

“Look, kid. You’re in Los Muertos’ territory. You’d better have a good reason for being here.”

“I told you, I’m lost.” So that’s what a Los Muertos member looks like. How dangerous could they possibly be?

The person narrowed their eyes and then laughed. “You really are just lost, aren’t you?”

Satya frowned. “All I wanted was to go to the bakery.” Was it really that unbelievable that someone could just be lost in Dorado? Did everyone here just _know_ how to navigate the town?

They stopped laughing. “The bakery? That closes in like, an hour.”

Satya pouted. “I _know_ and I can’t find it.” She didn’t need to be reminded that she was so lost she probably make it on time.

The person frowned too and then shook their head. “Alright, kid. I’ll take you to the bakery.” Were they pitying her? She didn’t want that.

“I didn’t ask.” Satya’s voice was firm. She didn’t think she needed unsolicited help from some gang member, especially when her job specifically involved keeping said gang member out of her place of work.

“You didn’t have to,” they replied. “You’re going to be lost out here all night if someone doesn’t show you where you’re going.” They motioned toward the entrance to the alley. “Besides, the rest of Los Muertos won’t be as nice as me if they catch you.”

Satya nodded and headed back out of the alley. “Why are you doing this?” If she _had_ to let them help her, she at least wanted to know why.

“Maybe because a kid like you shouldn’t even be here,” the person replied.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She was really beginning to get irritated that this person kept insisting upon calling her a kid. She was _not_ a child.

“Firstly, it means you probably have money,” they said. “More than just Los Muertos would kick your ass to take it from you. Secondly, it means you’re wearing some kind of uniform. You’re either a student or you’re working for someone. The others might not recognize the logo.” The person poked the Vishkar logo on Satya’s shoulder. “But I do. You work for Vishkar, now I have no idea what the hell a Vishkar brat is doing in Mexico, but the others wouldn’t bother asking. You’re a problem; Vishkar, really any corporation, is a problem. Third, it means you’re a girl, and _trust me_ that’s the _last_ thing you want to be if José catches you.”

“Aren’t you also a girl?” Satya asked, she immediately regretted it. Mistaking someone who isn’t a girl, for a girl, was a very good way to make them very angry.

They didn’t respond at first. “You can call me Sofia,” they said after a moment. It didn’t exactly answer the question, nor did it sound like they were telling the truth. At the very least, though, it did sound like they weren’t angry.

“Okay, Sofia. How do you know Vishkar?” Satya asked. Vishkar didn’t have any branches or partnerships outside of India, yet. So it was interesting that some gang member in Mexico would know them.

“I have my sources, mostly the internet,” Sofia replied.

Satya nodded slightly. “And what do those sources say?”

“They say if you keep asking questions I’ll drop you at the police station for breaking curfew instead of taking you to the bakery,” Sofia replied.

“There’s a curfew?” Satya asked, slightly panicked. No one had told her that. The last thing she wanted was to be breaking a rule she didn’t even know existed. She started to turn around, to head back to the place she was staying.

Sofia held out her hands, putting them against Satya’s shoulders stopping her in place. “Ay, relájate, I’m sorry. I was joking. There’s no curfew,” Sofia said.

“That’s not funny,” Satya said firmly. She knew she didn’t look pleased, she wasn’t pleased. Not only was Sofia touching her and she _hated_ being touched, but now she felt like she’d been insulted.

“You’re taking everything very seriously,” Sofia said letting go of Satya’s shoulders. “Doesn’t that get tiring?”

Satya frowned slightly. Was she not supposed to take things seriously? How would she even know if she was? She was just doing what she usually did. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

Sofia was quiet for a bit, leading Satya through the streets without a word. Satya was concerned that she might have said something wrong. Maybe something that had upset or offended Sofia. She probably shouldn’t have been worried about possibly having offended a gang member, but she was aware now that Sofia had a gun tucked into their belt. (She was unaware of it before, because before she was in front of Sofia, now she was walking behind her.)

“What I mean is, do you even understand when people are making jokes?”

Satya looked down at her hands. “Oh.” Right, that had always been a problem. Somehow it felt worse having a complete stranger point that flaw out than it ever had when the meaner of the other students would bully her over it. Of course, she should have expected that to come up. So far people had been nice to her about it here, but she’d suspected it wouldn’t last.

“You know what, ignore that question. It wasn’t very good,” Sofia said suddenly. “Instead, why not tell me what you’re doing in Mexico.”

“I have an internship,” Satya replied. She didn’t even bother trying to sound happy now, letting her voice fall to what it normally was ‘a tired monotone’ as her friend Sanjay had described it once.

“Where? Doing what?” Sofia asked, showing what seemed to Satya to be more than just a curious interest in that.

Satya almost replied with an actual answer, but stopped short. The last thing she needed was Los Muertos to be expecting increased security the next time they tried to get into the plant. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Looks like I’m not the only one with secrets then,” Sofia said. “What are you planning on getting at the bakery?”

Satya considered this. She honestly hadn’t thought she’d get that far. She didn’t know where the bakery actually was, or what they served. She just knew it existed. “Do they sell cake?” It was as good an assumption as any; the bakery near the Vishkar school sold cakes.

“They more sell breads… hmm… galletas, and brownies,” Sofia replied.

“Galletas? Like… sweet ones? Or like… salty?” Satya pulled at a thread from her shirt that had gotten caught in one of the finger joins of her prosthetic. “Food is such a complex topic, especially when language gets involved. More so when it’s a language I can’t speak very well.”

“You have a very heavy accent,” Sofia noted. “It probably makes it rather difficult for you to properly pronounce Spanish words.”

“I have an accent?” She’d always been told she sounded like an omnic, and as far as she knew omnics didn’t _have_ accents.

“You do, I kind of like it,” Sofia said, “and it’s the sweet ones. The best ones are chocolate chip.”

“I don’t want this to sound wrong,” Satya said. “But they let you in the bakery?”

Sofia laughed. “I don’t always _look_ like a gang member. And I haven’t always been with Los Muertos. They know me.”

“How does someone end up in a gang?” Satya asked.

“For me, it was because I didn’t have anywhere else to go and they offered something I needed,” Sofia replied. “They offered me a place to stay. Of course, now they need me more than I need them. But that’s exactly how I want it to be.”

“Is that stuff on your face supposed to be scary?” Satya asked. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be in silence, silence could be very comforting a lot of the time, it was that she really wanted to know the point of the face paint.

“You don’t think it is?’ Sofia asked in reply.

“No, I think it’s cute.” Satya had never had problems with just telling people what she thought, at least not if she actually knew what it was.

Sofia laughed. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that one. It’s supposed to be intimidating, or at the very least creepy.”

“It’s cute,” Satya replied. “Like a snake.”

“You are the weirdest child I have ever met, which is saying a lot because I’ve met myself,” Sofia said.

“I’m _not_ a child,” Satya said fiercely. “And snakes are very cute, I don’t understand why other people think that’s not true.”

Satya waited for a response to that for several minutes as they kept walking. When Sofia finally did speak again what she said was, “That’s the bakery. I recommend the chocolate chip galletas. They’re the best. But you can get whatever looks good to you, I guess.”

“You’re not coming inside?” Satya asked. She tried not to sound disappointed, Sofia was kind of nice.

“No, you’re on your own from here kid.”

“Why do you keep calling me kid when I keep telling you I am _not_ a child?”

“You never gave me your name,” Sofia replied simply. “You don’t just expect me to call you your name magically, do you?”

Satya blushed hotly and hid her face in her hands. “ _I’m such an idiot.”_ She did not expect Sofia to be able to understand her, in fact she hoped Sofia didn’t even know what language she’d just spoke. She took a deep breath, put her hands down, and said, “My name is Satya. Thank you for helping me, Sofia. I don’t think I would have found this place without you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Satya, but for your sake, I hope we don’t meet again,” Sofia replied as she started to walk away.

“What does that even mean?” Satya called after her.

“It means the bakery closes in forty minutes, and you should probably hurry if you want to get something from there,” Sofia replied. “It means, next time we meet, I might have to fight you or kill you. Try not to be surprised that we aren’t friends.”

* * *

For all the bad things Satya heard about Los Muertos during her time in Dorado, she never forgot that one member who helped her. They can’t be _all_ bad, she told herself. Perhaps she was just naïve. They were a gang, one involved heavily in the illegal weapons trade, or so she’d been told. One gang that had been driven off twice by Luka and Saber. One gang that hadn’t bothered her in the entire five months she’d been here.

“You have to set up the sentries where they won’t be seen by whoever is coming _in_ , or they’ll just get destroyed before they can do their job,” Satya told the security guards that were gathered in front of her. “The sensors have to be clear to detect the intruders, which means don’t hide them behind a solid object. Tall grass, and among leaves works; behind a book, or flower pot does not.”

She saw that some of them were actually taking notes on what she said, while the rest were just nodding. So far none of them had disappointed her. So far, she’d proved herself to be a valuable asset. Vishkar would be proud of her work, if it impressed LumériCo enough to make them partners.

She had taught the engineers how to build the sentries from metal and wires, an impressive feat since there were no designs originally, just a concept. There were designs now, of course, and there were different designs that the Vishkar engineers and architects used. None of them were the same as what she used to build _her_ sentries.

To say that she was the best may have been an overstatement, but she’d heard it multiple times since she’d arrived in Dorado. The guards seemed most impressed by how, despite the sentries being on ‘stun’ they still managed to actually incapacitate people long term. At first it had annoyed her that they had assumed she meant they would be stunned for a few minutes max. She did nothing halfway. She felt that if you were going to bother setting up defenses to keep someone _out_ , you’ll want to keep them around long enough to find out why they wanted _in._

“You’re doing really great,” Maria told her after the security guards left to set up the sentries at the locations she’d indicated on the blueprints.

“Thank you,” Satya replied. Five months, and she still wasn’t quite used to Maria genuinely complimenting her.

“I’m going to give you a new task,” Maria said. “Follow me.”

Satya nodded slightly and followed Maria as she headed off through the facility. Once they were at one of the entrances, they stopped.

“I want you to wait here,” Maria said.

“What for?” Satya asked. She was picking at the joints of her prosthetic again, it helped her relax after having to talk in front of so many people. She was worried, slightly, that Maria would tell her to stop. Five months, and she still wasn’t used to the fact that Maria didn’t seem to mind her stimming.

“Pizza,” Maria replied. “You and I are going to have dinner together, pizza is okay, I hope.”

“As long as it doesn’t have mushrooms, it’s fine,” Satya replied.

“Wait here for the pizza, then,” Maria said. “I’ll be in my office.”

Satya nodded slightly. “I’ll be right here. You want me to bring it to you when it arrives?”

Maria smiled. “Yes, and give this,” she handed Satya a small envelope, “to the delivery person, okay?”

“Yes ma’am.” Satya rocked back on her feet for a second then said, “Maria? If it’s okay to ask, why are you so nice to me? About all the things… that aren’t quite normal with me, I mean.”

Maria smiled softly and said, “My little brother and his twin sister are both autistic, I learned a lot from them. I know the world can be kind of rough, more so when you don’t quite fit in. I want you to be comfortable, to do what you need to. You deserve to be allowed to express yourself in whatever way you need to. The world isn’t built for you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do my best to accommodate you. I can’t change how other people treat you, but I can be nice and help you. I can let you be yourself. You’re a person, Satya. You deserve the right to exist in your way. I can’t change the world, but someday maybe you can.”

Satya nodded slightly. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that, no one had ever said something like that to her before. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Satya. Remember, I’ll be in my office when the pizza gets here.”

Satya watched as Maria walked away. She was still playing with the joints of her prosthetic. After a little bit she heard laughter.

“You are probably the smartest _child_ I have ever seen,” the voice in the laughter said. It was Sofia, Satya recognized it even after not hearing it for so long. “And they have you waiting for pizza.”

“Hi, Sofia,” Satya replied. “Are you having fun?”

“Actually, I’m here to kick you,” Sofia replied stepping out of the shadows nearby. “You’re what’s keeping us out.”

Satya tilted her head and blinked slowly. “What do you mean?”

“You are the reason we can’t break in,” Sofia said, striding up to Satya and poking her shoulder. “Tell me how to disable them.”

“What are you—“

Sofia pushed Satya back against the wall she was standing in front of and pinned her there with one hand against her right shoulder. “You know _exactly_ what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb with me Vishkar brat. We already lost one member to your damn sentries.”

“The sentries are only supposed to stun—“

“They can be ‘only supposed’ to all you want, brat, but they aren’t,” Sofia snapped. “Now tell me how to turn them off.” Her hand was on her gun, an obvious threat.

“You can’t,” Satya replied her voice betraying a level of emotion most people didn’t know she was capable of. “The ones I make have an off switch, but these ones don’t. They felt it a flaw to be exploited, not an important safety feature. The only way to turn them off is to destroy them.”

“Can they be hacked? Can you turn them off from their programming?” Sofia asked.

“I guess?” Satya replied trying to wiggle out of Sofia’s grasp. “I’m not sure how you would though, they’re a centralized hive mind connected only to themselves and whoever is monitoring them. There’s no access to their programming once they’re connected to the system, which is done upon activation.” She flexed the fingers of her prosthetic. For some reason Sofia had seen fit to pin her flesh arm, not the metal one that was twice as strong.

“You _guess?_ ” Sofia moved her other hand up to Satya’s hair, pulling her head back slightly, just enough that Satya was forced to look at her face and see just how serious she was.

Satya slammed her prosthetic hand up quickly against Sofia’s face. Something made a very nasty crunch sound and Sofia let out a string of cuss words.

Sofia pulled her hands away from Satya, bringing them up to her face. There was a lot more blood than Satya had been expecting. “You fucking broke my nose.”

Satya squeaked and prepared herself for some kind of retaliation, but none came.

Sofia, hands still in front of her nose, took a step back from Satya glaring at her. “You’re lucky brat. That I’d rather not murder a fucking child,” she said.

“Are you going to come back?” Satya asked, flexing her fingers absentmindedly. She’d hit her again if needed. They weren’t friends. They weren’t. She wouldn’t forget that again.

“Not until you’re gone.” Sofia backed away quickly. “Thanks for giving me what I needed for our plans to be successful, brat.”

Satya stared between her bloody prosthetic and the envelope still clutched in her other hand. She would never forget.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Sofia is Sombra. Yes, she's a trans girl. Satya refers to Sofia with 'they' because she doesn't know what pronouns to use.


	2. El pez grande se come el chico

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “As for an side-fic from Sombra's POV, whether you consider it necessary or not, that's up with you. you could always just incorporate it in the very same fic? totally up to you.” --PinkROmantic on chapter 1  
> “i need more...” -- PancakeMisery on chapter 1
> 
> There were three comments really happy about Trans Sombra as well, and I’d like to thank the comments, especially these two, for the encouragement they provided. This chapter is a long time coming, and might be a tad bit long*.
> 
> *It's actually over 15 thousand words long.

Sombra looked around for a moment, wondering where the rest of her gang had gotten off to. Their last foray into LumériCo’s new power plant hadn’t been as successful as she’d have liked, yielding only some heavily insulated wires and a couple computer chips that were badly damaged. They needed to be more careful. The chips wouldn’t do any good, nor fetch any money if they were damaged. They’d been lucky so far. She was aware that there was someone coming in to beef up the security. The real questions were who, how, and more importantly when.

Looking around the same spot for five minutes wasn’t going to get her any closer to answers though, so she turned toward the nearest building and considered her options. It would be easier to find people if she had a bird’s eye view, and the buildings around here were relatively easy to climb. So, she walked over to the building and climbed up onto the dumpster next to it, to make it easier to climb to the top. She then climbed up to the top and grinned. There was nothing quite like being up above everyone else.

She walked around the edge of the roof, looking for any of the other Los Muertos members, but they weren’t around. “Left me again,” she mumbled.

After a moment of finding nothing, she sat down on the edge of the roof. Might as well wait for a bit, maybe they’d come back then she could dropkick them for leaving her behind. It was only a few minutes later that someone entered the alley below her. It appeared to be a child, though they were a little tall. “Looks like someone’s lost,” she chuckled to herself as she watched this kid pause close to the entrance of the alley. “Hey,” she called out.

The kid looked around nervously. Sombra shook her head a slight smile on her face. _They never look up._

“You see lost, _little girl_.”

“I am,” the kid replied.

That was a first, usually kids who heard her talk from somewhere they couldn’t see would take off running. Either this kid was really brave, or really stupid, she wasn’t sure which would be more interesting. She stood up then, and the kid finally looked up _. Interesting, are they able to better locate sounds than voices_?

Sombra hopped down off the roof onto the dumpster, then to the ground and walked over to the kid, who she noticed was staring at her. “You picked a bad place to be lost, kid.”

“Don’t call me a kid, you’re not much older than me,” the kid said.

Sombra laughed. She hoped it was bravery, because anything else would get them killed—or worse. “You’ve got guts. Do you even know what I am?”

“Human?” the kid said.

She had to give them credit for that smartass reply. The kid would go far someday. “You’re not from around here.”

This kid bit their lip slightly. “No, and I’m lost.”

Sombra shook her head slightly. This kid was going to get themself hurt. “Look, kid. You’re in Los Muertos’ territory. You had better have a _good_ reason for being here.” What the hell was she going to do with some lost kid? Especially… one wearing… whatever that was, she’d need to look at it in the light to confirm, but it looked like a uniform.

“I told you,” the kid said, “I’m lost.”

Sombra narrowed her eyes at the kid. Either they really were just lost, or they were stalling for time for some reason. There wasn’t anyone else around though, and the only sounds were the two of them. After a moment, she started laughing. This kid probably was just lost, they were obviously new in town. “You really are just lost, aren’t you?”

They frowned. “All I wanted to do was go to the bakery.”

Sombra stopped laughing then. They sounded so sad when they said that, probably because they knew they wouldn’t make it in time if they kept wandering there on their own. “The bakery? That closes in like, an hour,”

The kid pouted, actually pouted. “I _know_ and I can’t find it.”

Sombra frowned, _god help this kid she’s too cute what the fuck._ She shook her head slightly. This kid was going to end up in a whole lot of trouble if they were allowed to continue wandering around _lost_ in Dorado. It was going to get dark soon, and scary people prowled the streets at night. Scarier than herself, that was for sure. “Alright, kid. I’ll take you to the bakery.” The absolute last thing Sombra wanted was for this kid to get caught out alone, especially since she knew José was around somewhere and he was the absolute worst person on the planet.

“I didn’t ask,” the kid said firmly.

 _Wow, so tough_. “You didn’t have to,” she replied. “You’ll be lost out here all night if someone doesn’t show you where you’re going.” She motioned toward where the kid had entered the alley from. Her gang was around somewhere, and she _knew_ they wouldn’t be nearly so nice to this kid. _They always did think I have a soft spot for pretty people._ “Besides, the rest of Los Muertos won’t be nearly so nice as me if they catch you.”

The kid nodded then backed out of the alley. “Why are you doing this?”

Sombra rolled her eyes slightly. Like it wasn’t obvious she was just trying to help. “Maybe because a kid like you shouldn’t even be here,” she replied. It wasn’t the truth, she couldn’t tell the kid what would happen if any of the others—especially José—found her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the kid asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

Sombra shook her head. “Firstly, it means you probably have money,” she said. God, if the kid insisted upon knowing the reasons behind her help, she’d give them. She just hoped that after she explained it all the kid would feel a little safer with her. “More than just Los Muertos would kick your ass to take it from you.”

In the light, she could tell, the kid was _incredibly_ pretty, and definitely wearing a uniform. A _Vishkar_ uniform, she recognized the logo from some news article she’d found online. “Secondly, it means you’re wearing a uniform. You’re either a student, or you’re working for someone. The others might not recognize the logo,” she poked the Vishkar logo on their shoulder for emphasis, “but I do. You work for Vishkar, now I have no idea—“ _wrong, I have one idea, and it’s disastrously bad for both of us if it’s true_ —“what the hell a Vishkar brat is doing in Mexico, but the others wouldn’t bother asking. You’re a problem—“ _this really isn’t going to make the kid feel safer shut up Sombra_ —“Vishkar, really any corporation, is a problem. Third it means you’re a girl, and _trust me_ , that’s the _last_ thing you want to be if José catches you.”

“Aren’t you also a girl?” the kid asked.

Sombra froze. _Fuck, how the fuck does she know that. Fuck, fuck, fuck._ She blinked slightly, and tried to focus on herself. Okay, so the kid knows, or assumed somehow. This wasn’t necessarily bad, it wasn’t like she was trying to hide it from anyone right now. But, there was always people who reacted badly—if those people could tell, she’d be in a lot of trouble (trouble is a bad word for it, more like danger). Well, the kid—girl—was right about one thing. She was also a girl, and she was also terrified (bad word, but not so much, terrified or furious at) of José, a girl was the last thing she wanted to be around him, and it was also the only thing he didn’t think she actually was.

After a moment, she decided how to respond. “You can call me Sofia.” A feminine name would put the girl more at ease, since they did either think or know that she was a girl herself. The last thing she needed was the girl to run away out of fear of being wrong about her, or out of fear of a random ‘man’ offering to help.

“Okay, Sofia,” the girl said, not seeming the least bit frightened or concerned by anything Sombra had said. “How do you know about Vishkar?”

Sombra smiled slightly, the girl didn’t seem to care about anything that she’d said, or rather, they just seemed to accept it. Well, everything but how she knew about the company. “I have my sources, mostly the internet,” she replied.

“And what do those sources say?”

It would be easy to tell the truth and say the sources said they were an architectural firm building housing for people displaced by the Omnic Crisis, but it would be more fun to mess with the girl, who in her opinion asked too many questions. “They say if you keep asking questions I’ll drop you at the police station for breaking curfew instead of taking you to the bakery.” Hopefully, the girl knew she was bluffing and there was no curfew.

“There’s a curfew?” the girl asked, obviously panicked. They started to turn around, presumably to go back to wherever they were staying in town.

Sombra put her hands against the girl’s shoulders, stopping them in place. The girl’s prosthetic was oddly warm even through their shirt, not like some of the people she knew whose prosthetics were cold, almost lifeless. “Hey, _relax_ , I’m sorry. I was joking, there’s no curfew.”

“That’s not funny,” the girl snapped.

Sombra blinked, realizing that it was possible the girl thought she’d insulted them. She let go of their shoulders and started walking toward the bakery slowly, hoping the girl would still follow. “You’re taking this—everything—very seriously. Doesn’t that get tiring?”

To her delight the girl actually followed pretty closely.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” they said.

Sombra considered that quietly. Something here wasn’t quite adding up about how this girl was acting, it was almost like they didn’t fully understand how to interact with other people—and she was fairly certain it wasn’t just a cultural difference. “What I mean is, do you understand when people make jokes?”

“Oh.”

She’d never thought it was possible for one word to make someone sound so incredibly defeated, but it did, somehow. “You know what,” she said quickly, “ignore that question. It wasn’t very good.” Whatever was off about the girl, she shouldn’t poke at it in any way. It probably hurt them to be reminded of it, especially by someone who didn’t even know what ‘it’ was. “Instead, why not tell me what you’re doing in Mexico?” She could probably ease her mind over that one particular thing at least. Surely it was just coincidence that a Vishkar kid was in Dorado around the same time that LumériCo was supposed to be bringing in someone to assist in upping their security. This kid couldn’t possibly be that person, could they?

“I have an internship,” the girl replied. They sounded tired, sad even.

Sombra frowned slightly at the girl’s tone of voice, no one should sound that sad. She must have really upset them with that comment about jokes. She needed to make it up to them somehow.

“Where? Doing what?” If she showed interest in the girl, maybe it would cheer her up. Plus, she was very concerned now that maybe her suspicion wasn’t wrong. It would be very bad for both of them if this girl _was_ the person LumériCo had brought in. Especially since like ten percent of her gang would want to kill them to keep them from actually helping LumériCo, and most of the rest would willingly kick their ass as soon as look at them. Worse would be if José—no, she couldn’t let herself even consider entertaining a thought of what he might do.

“I can’t tell you that,” the girl replied.

That almost certainly meant that the girl _was_ in fact the person who was there to help LumériCo. Odd that the job had fallen to someone so young. Still, she couldn’t blame the girl for not saying exactly. LumériCo had probably warned them that Los Muertos had been breaking in and stealing things. “Looks like I’m not the only one with secrets then,” she said. “What are you planning on getting at the bakery?”

The girl was quiet for a moment then said, “Do they sell cake?”

Sombra thought about that, she couldn’t remember a time she ever saw cakes at the bakery. “They more sell…” what _had_ she seen there? “Breads… galletas, and brownies.”

“Galletas? Like…” the girl seemed to think for a moment, probably trying to translate that word into whatever their first language was; based on their accent, Sombra was almost certain English wasn’t it. “Sweet ones? Or like… salty?” There was a moment’s pause and then the girl said, “Food is such a complex topic, especially when language gets involved. More so when it’s a language I can’t speak very well.”

“You do have a very heavy accent,” Sombra noted. “It probably makes it rather difficult for you to properly pronounce Spanish words.”

“I have an accent?” the girl asked. They sounded a bit shocked to hear that.

“You do,” Sombra replied. “I kind of like it. And it’s the sweet ones, the best are chocolate chip.”

“I don’t want this to sound wrong,” the girl said.

Sombra smirked slightly. This should be interesting.

“But they let you in the bakery?”

She laughed. She couldn’t tell why the kid might think that she wouldn’t be allowed in the bakery, unless it was because—“I don’t always _look_ like a gang member. And I haven’t always been with Los Muertos. They know me.”

“How does someone end up in a gang?” they asked.

“For me,” she replied, “It was because I didn’t have anywhere else to go and they offered me something I needed, a place to stay. Of course, now they need me almost more than I need them. That’s exactly how I want it to be.”

“Is that stuff on your face supposed to be scary?”

So many questions. She brought her hands up and touched her face momentarily, feeling the face paint that was on it. “You don’t think it is?” Everyone around here knew to be scared of it.

“No I think it’s cute,” the girl replied.

Sombra chuckled. _This girl is too cute, help me_. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever hear that one. It’s supposed to be intimidating, or at the very least creepy.”

“It’s cute,” they said confidently. “Like a snake.”

“You are the weirdest child I have ever met,” Sombra said. “Which is saying a lot because I’ve met myself.” She once cried over a mouse, not like the animal, a computer mouse that was just exceptionally pretty.

“I am _not_ a child,” the girl snapped slightly.

_Note to self, hates being called a child._

“And snakes are very cute, I don’t understand why other people think that’s not true.”

Sombra didn’t reply for a while, she was just walking trying to think if she’d ever _actually_ seen a snake before. When she did speak again, it was because she noticed the bakery was a little ways ahead of them. “That’s the bakery,” she said, pointing at it. “I recommend the chocolate chip galletas. They’re the best, but you can get whatever you want, I guess.” She stuck her hands in her pocket and waited for the girl to go inside.

“You’re not coming inside?” they asked.

 _Oh my god, she’s disappointed that I’m not going in there. Does she not understand that I can’t go in when I look like this? The people in there don’t know I’m with Los Muertos._ “No, you’re on your own from here kid.”

“Why do you keep calling me kid when I keep telling you I am _not_ a child?” the girl snapped.

 _Apparently, doesn’t like kid either._ “You never gave me your name?” she replied simply. _Does she not understand you have to tell people your name for them to know your name?_ “You don’t just expect me to call you your name magically do you?”

The girl blushed, _actually blushed (fuck that’s cute),_ then hid their face in their hands. They said something to themself in a language Sombra did not understand or even recognize, then took a deep breath and put their hands down. “My name is Satya. Thank you for helping me, Sofia. I don’t think I would have found this place without you.”

Sombra nodded. “It’s nice to meet you too, Satya, but for your own sake, I hope we don’t meet again,” she replied as she started to walk away, hoping to force Satya to go inside the bakery. As much as she’d like it, she couldn’t let herself or Satya think they were friends. Bad things would happen, especially since Satya was going to be trying her hardest to keep Sombra out of LumériCo’s power plant.

“What does that mean?” Satya called after her.

“It means the bakery closes in forty minutes, and you should probably hurry if you want something from there,” she replied, still walking away. “It means, next time we meet, I might have to fight you or kill you. Try not to be surprised that we aren’t friends.” Which would be easier if Sombra herself could force herself not to want to be Satya’s friend. _Fuck, why did she have to be pretty and nice?_

After she’d gotten some distance away, against her better judgement, she turned and looked back. Satya was heading into the bakery then. This was good, she’d be safe in there until she decided to leave. Sylvia, the owner of the bakery, wouldn't let anything happen to Satya. That woman kept a gun under the counter by the cash register, and she knew how to use it too. Sombra started to turn around again, and head back to where she had last seen her gang.

“You’re not a very smart boy,” a voice said in her ear as someone slapped her ass.

“Fuck off, José,” she snapped. “Can’t I just take a walk in peace?” It was a very stupid choice to make, mouthing off to José, but she couldn't just stay quiet. Either way she knew she was going to walk away from this encounter hurt, or threatened, so she might as well at least fight back in whatever way she could.

“No, you can’t,” José said walking around in front of her, blocking her view of the bakery. “You do what _I_ say. And I say that I expect you to be waiting in my room when I get back to the hideout after the midnight arms pickup.”

Sombra started to tell him to fuck off, again, but stopped. If she stalled here too long, he might see Satya leave the bakery. God knows what he’d do to her, but it wouldn’t be pretty. Plus he was like, at least two complete heads taller than her. She knew she needed to pick her battles, and this one was lost before she'd even begun. It always was. “Fuck you.”

“No,” José said and grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her up off the ground slightly, reminding her once again that he was a hell of a lot stronger than her. “The plan is to fuck _you._ When you cry, you _almost_ actually look like a girl.”

Sombra nodded fearfully. Right, this wasn't going to end well. If she was lucky, he'd have somewhere else to be soon, and wouldn't hurt her much out in the open like this, but if she was unlucky... she swallowed her fear just long enough to say, “Okay, whatever you want, José. I'll do whatever you want me to. Can I please just go now?”

“Kiss me.”

That was a demand not request, and she knew that. Forcing herself not to cry, she allowed him to kiss her. After he pulled away, she bit her lip. She was left shaking lightly, knowing that she had lost a fight even if she'd been left without a scratch on her. “Now can I go?”

José laughed and then walked around her, heading back to wherever he’d come from. “Don’t forget our deal, boy. If you’re even one minute late.” He left that sentence unfinished.

She didn’t need to hear it to know what he’d do. Now she was having second thoughts about rejoining the others, that’s likely where José was currently headed, and she wanted nothing to do with him. She felt kind of sick as she stood there. For the first time all day, she was glad she hadn't eaten, she'd probably throw up if she had. She wasn’t sure what to do, she wanted to cry, but she couldn’t handle if anyone saw her doing that.

After a moment of standing there in shocked silence, she heard Sylvia’s voice. “Are you sure you don’t need someone to walk you home? It's dangerous out at night.”

She didn’t hear Satya’s reply, but she decided that, whatever Satya said wasn’t worth the risk that José might see her. After Sylvia went back inside, Sombra ran over to rejoin Satya. “Hey, umm… I can walk you back.” She tried to sound nonchalant about it, like she was doing it just because she was in the area, not because she actually cared or anything. She did care though, and perhaps that's what made the whole situation so painful. She couldn't protect Satya the entire time she was going to be here in Dorado, there was no way she could do that--especially not if Satya really was interning with LumériCo--but she could try her best to protect Satya now, and that would have to be good enough.

“I thought you said you hoped we wouldn’t meet again,” Satya replied. She didn't seem upset or angry or even confused. It seemed more like she was just stating a fact.

“Well, like, consider this part of the first meeting then,” she replied. “I don’t want you to be out here alone, there’s…" She paused, trying to figure out how exactly to word it. José was a lot of things: an asshole, a rapist, a killer... but she wasn't sure what to tell Satya that wouldn't scare her, though maybe scaring her would be a good thing it might make her be more cautious. "...a really bad man out here, and he would really _really_ hurt you.”

“What’s the worst he could do? Kill me?” Satya asked in reply.

“Some things are worse than death, Satya,” Sombra replied before she even really thought about how that might be perceived. If death was the worst thing Satya could think of to happen to someone, then she was a lot more innocent and naive than Sombra first thought.

Satya nodded slightly then asked very quietly, “Sofia, why are you crying? Is it because of the bad man? Did he do something to you?” She clutched the little paper bag that was in her hand tightly for a second and then said quietly. "If you want to talk about it, when we get back to the place I'm staying, I'll listen. I don't think I'd be a lot of help, but I'd listen." Her body did not betray the hesitation that her voice held, she was still, but her voice showed that she was uncertain of what to say or do to help. She was offering an ear, Sombra noted, it might have been the only thing she knew to offer.

Sombra’s hands went to her face immediately, when she felt the tears on her cheeks, she dried them off with the sleeve of her jacket, though leather wasn’t the best thing for drying tears, it just kind of tugged at her face slightly, wanting to stick to the paint and sweat and tears and skin. “I don’t want to talk about it, but thank you for offering. Can we talk about something else on the way, if you really want to talk?” She wasn't sure that Satya did want to talk, the girl seemed just as comfortable in silence as she did when they were talking, maybe even a little more so.

Satya held up the bag that was in her hand. “I bought cookies!” There was a moment’s pause. “Galletas? Want one?” Whatever hesitation there was before, it was gone now. Satya seemed absolutely positive that the correct next step was sharing galletas.

“You’d share with me?” Sombra asked. Satya was nice, but like, why? Was there something Satya wanted from her? People don't just share things with gang members. Well, not smart people anyway, but apparently Satya does? Had she done something to convince Satya that she was worth sharing with?

“Because I have seven, I don’t want seven, if you eat one, there will be six and that will be perfect,” Satya replied as though the answer were the most logical and obvious thing in the world.

“How many did you buy?” If she didn’t want seven, she must have bought more and already ate some. She wasn't going to argue with the logic of the situation though. She had her own things that she was picky about too, like what kind of leather she would wear, or the color paint she would use, or how long her hair should be. There was nothing wrong with being picky.

“Eight, but I ate one, now it’s not even,” Satya said. “Please take one.”

Sombra nodded slightly, reached in the bag, and took one of the cookies out. Chocolate chip. Her favorite. _She listened to me. I told her I'd have to fight her and she still took my suggestion. I don't know if that's cute or concerning._ “Satya, can I ask you a question?’

“Sure,” Satya replied as she started walking back the way she and Sombra had originally came to get to the bakery.

“I know you said you’re a girl, but what pronouns do you use?”

“I… well, feminine ones in languages that have them,” Satya replied. “She, her. That kind of thing, you know? Do you use different ones? I want to use whatever ones are right for you. It would be bad if I use the wrong ones.”

“Sometimes it’s bad to use the right ones,” Sombra replied under her breath. “I prefer feminine pronouns, but some people get it wrong and use masculine ones, it’s better for me if no one corrects the people who get it wrong.”

“So I should use like ‘she’ and ‘her’ and equivalent depending on the language, to refer to you. Like, say, if I had a friend back home and I wanted to tell them I met you I’d say something like ‘I met a pretty girl here and she walked with me when I got lost and it was really nice’ and that would be okay?”

 _She called me pretty! God this girl is insufferably cute. Who told her it was okay to be this cute? I’m gonna die._ “Yes, that would be fine.”

Satya nodded, apparently satisfied with such an answer. “I don’t have a friend to tell, but if I did, I’d tell them only good things about you.”

“You don’t know any bad things about me,” Sombra pointed out.

“Then tell me some to keep a secret,” Satya replied stopping walking for a second to turn and look at Sombra. “I’m pretty good at keeping secrets.”

Sombra considered this, there was a lot of things she could tell Satya, but what ones wouldn’t be compromising. “I’m a gang member?”

“I know that one already,” Satya replied. “What’s your gang do?”

“Mostly illegal weapons deals,” Sombra replied. “Some of them also like to bully children, but not me. The kids don’t deserve that, they’re just kids. I’m a hacker.”

“Are you any good at it?”

“The best,” Sombra replied. She was absolutely confident in that, though she currently had only one measure of knowing that, and that was the fact that she'd never been caught. Terrible hackers fail. Bad hackers are messy and get caught. Good hackers can still get caught, only the best never get caught. Only the best. Sombra was sure that she could out hack anyone at any time, she just needed the chance to prove it.

Satya nodded slightly. “I’d be very interested to learn how that works.”

 _You would_ , she almost replied, before she realized that probably sounded rude. Vishkar knowing her secrets would be bad. Anyone knowing her secrets would be bad, but Vishkar especially. She wasn't sure what about Vishkar made her so uneasy, but part of her wondered if it was maybe that they had a school. Raising children specifically to work in their company? That was wrong. A lot of things were wrong, but raising children to be laborers, even if the work is pretty well respected? That's just wrong on a lot of levels, levels that irked Sombra. “No way, Satya,” she replied. “I’m not teaching Vishkar any of my secrets.”

“I didn’t mean,” Satya replied stopping short halfway through her sentence, leaving out whatever she was about to say about what she didn't mean to imply. “I understand, I was asking simply because I like learning new things, but I don’t blame you for not wanting Vishkar to learn how you do what you do.”

“The less people who know how I work, the better,” Sombra replied. The way Satya said that last sentence bothered her, if Satya really thought she was good at keeping secrets then why did she suddenly decide that being told herself about how something worked would mean Vishkar would find out. It didn't sound like Satya was meaning to say she understood why it would be bad if Vishkar learned it. It sounded like Satya was afraid she wouldn't be able to keep Vishkar from learning it. “It’s nothing personal.”

Satya smiled. “I understand completely.” She held up her bag of galletas again. “These are really good, thank you for recommending them.”

“What is it that _you_ do, Satya?” Sombra asked. There was a good probability that she already knew the answer and could be making a mistake in asking under the assumption that Satya would even tell her. She was curious though, and the answer might even surprise her.

“I’m learning to be an architectural engineer,” Satya replied. “I can bend light into solid objects.”

“Can you show me?” Sombra asked.

Satya grinned eagerly. The motions she made looked kind of like dancing, and Sombra couldn’t help but stare. She was mesmerized by the movement and light, the palm of Satya's prosthetic hand glowed with a bright light blue light, and in the space between her two hands, an object was forming, as though from a hologram into reality. Satya put a lot of care into what she was doing, Sombra could tell that just from the amount of detail that she put into the object she was making now. When she was done she held in her hand a long stemmed purple rose.

“For you,” Satya said, holding out the rose to Sombra.

Sombra blushed slightly, hoping that was hidden by the paint on her face and took the rose gently. It was very soft, not at all what she would have expected from an object made of light. “Thank you.”

Satya smiled. “Pretty girls get pretty flowers. That one will last forever.”

Sombra blushed a lot at that statement. She held the flower carefully in her hands, not wanting to break it or drop it. She had never really been given a gift like this before, especially not one that was obviously from a girl who might actually have a crush on her. She’d been given other gifts in the past, but mostly from official people who only did it because they had to. She'd also been given free food before, though she wasn't sure if that counted as a gift or not. Next time she'd ask Sylvia if the extra cookies were a gift. She started to smile back at Satya, to try and show her gratitude but froze with a realization dawning on her.

 _Wait! Satya’s smile… it looks just like the smile that Sylvia gives me when she gives me extra items with my bakery orders! Fuck, does Sylvia have a crush on me too?_ Sombra glanced back at the bakery for a second. _Sylvia... crushing on me? That's pretty much a dream come true, she's the most beautiful woman in Dorado. The most beautiful, and the kindest, cutest, most interesting, charming, intelligent. The greatest woman in Dorado. Plus, it's not like I haven't also been flirting with her. I wonder if I'm right, and maybe she does like me. I like her, so maybe it's possible she likes me too? That would be interesting._

“Something wrong?” Satya asked. “You look like you saw a ghost.” That was an interesting thing to say, if seeing a ghost made someone look like they'd been slapped in the face by the realization of how oblivious they'd been, horror movies would be a lot less scary.

“It’s nothing,” Sombra replied. “I just think I figured out that someone likes me. A sudden realization... there's a word for that, but I can't remember it right now.”

“The word is epiphany and the person who likes you... is it me?” Satya asked. “Or someone else?”

“The woman who runs the bakery,” Sombra replied. “I think you also like me, don’t you?”

"I do," Satya replied. "I think. Maybe only a little, but I do."

Sombra considered this carefully. It probably wasn't a good thing for Satya to actually like her, since they were on opposing sides insofar as LumériCo was concerned. Still, it did feel kind of nice that someone like Satya found her worth liking, even if it probably was a mistake on Satya's end. She wouldn't tell Satya not to like her though, that would be mean. The kid-- _doesn't like being called a kid_ , she reminded herself--deserved to have a crush on whoever she wanted without being shamed for it no matter if the shaming would be for her own good.

"We should keep walking, shouldn't we?" Satya asked quietly. She sounded scared to be out after dark, not that Sombra could blame her for that, the dark could be quite scary, especially since José was out in it.

"Yes," Sombra replied as she glanced back at the bakery one last time before turning around and heading in the direction Satya had originally come from, with Satya by her side. "You're a long way from home," she said. "Vishkar's based in india, isn't it?"

"It is," Satya replied. "And I am. I don't like being so far away, I don't know anyone here very well, but I'm trying my best to learn. The language is difficult, but not impossible. I don't understand the problem. _Je parle très bien le français. Why is Spanish so hard?_ " She sounded incredibly frustrated that Spanish was hard for her, as though she were used to things being easy and just working when she needed to do something.

"Well," Sombra hummed slightly. "I don't speak... French? At all, so I can't really compare it to Spanish, but I stand by my earlier observation that your problem with Spanish is probably your accent. How long have you been speaking Spanish anyway?"

"About 17 weeks," Satya said. "I started learning about 17 weeks ago."

Sombra raised a brow at that. If she'd been drinking something she would have choked in shock. "You _started learning_ 17 weeks ago? Ay, I thought you'd been speaking it for years and were having problems still. Honestly, you're doing amazing to have only been learning for four months, though I must say that going ahead with learning by immersion at such a short amount of time was probably not the smartest decision."

"I didn't have a choice," Satya replied. "They only told me that I'd been picked for this assignment four and a half months ago. It was hard finding someone who could teach me Spanish, I ended up going with some exchange student at the university in my city. She was from Spain."

Sombra narrowed her eyes for a second though she wasn't entirely sure Satya could see her doing it. "They only gave you four months to prepare for an assignment in a country that speaks a vastly different language than yours?"

Satya nodded. "They wouldn't do it if they didn't think I was capable of handling it," she said.

"Or unless they were setting you up for failure," Sombra said.

Satya didn't reply at first. For a moment, Sombra was sure that she'd offended her somehow, but then she replied, "I tell myself that they must believe I'm capable of this, but they probably are setting me up for failure. The thing is, I won't fail. I can't. It's too important that I don't. So either way, either I prove them wrong and can never say that I thought they were setting me up to fail else I'm the doubter and the one who should have more confidence, or I prove them right and it's a job well done. This is what I know: I cannot fail, if I fail, then they will blame my... they will blame my differences, not me. They will say I should work harder, do more, try more. They will tell me it was a mistake to think I was capable of doing this task. I cannot let that happen. I will not fail."

"Your differences?" Sombra asked. _I shouldn't ask that. It's not my place, she probably doesn't want to talk about it._

"I don't ask you about your differences, Sofia. Please don't ask me about mine," Satya replied. "It's... not right to talk about. I... shouldn't acknowledge them."

"They're a part of you," Sombra said. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"It's nice that you believe that, but you're wrong." Satya looked down at the bag of galletas in her hand. "My differences are a weakness. They are bad. I have to work around them, make them not show. I have to overcome them, or I am weak, bad, and not worth anyone's time."

Sombra sucked in a breath but stopped herself from arguing with Satya. _Who the fuck tells a child that their differences are a weakness than makes them worthless so often that the child ends up believing it to be true? Who the fuck does that? That's not right. It's not._ She blinked slightly and tried to think of some way to counter that without making Satya upset. "Satya," she whispered, "I know you won't believe this because you barely know me, and we're not even really friends, but whoever told you that is wrong. Even if your differences make you weak and worthless to them, I promise there are other people who you're not weak or worthless to."

Satya was quiet for a moment again, and then said simply, "Are you one of them? Even though we're not friends, do I mean something to you? Do I have worth to you?"

"You do," Sombra replied fiercely. She might despise the people Satya works for. She might wish to burn the company to the ground, but that wouldn't change that Satya has worth. "You matter, Satya. You're going to change the world someday. And even if that's not true, it won't change that the world is better because you exist in it."

Satya tilted her head slightly, then nodded. "I will change the world. I want to make it better. I want people like me to never have to hear the things I've had to hear. I want people like you to feel safe telling anyone what pronouns are right. I want the world to be a better place."

Sombra smiled slightly. "That's the way to look at it," she said. "Make the world a better place. You probably can't do it alone though, but you most likely won't have to."

Satya nodded again, though she didn't respond to the actual words that Sombra had said to her. She kept walking following the streets as they wound through the town. Sombra noticed that Satya seemed interested in the lights and decorations hung around the town square.

"You missed _Dia De Metros,_ " Sombra stated. "It was last week. They haven't removed the decorations yet, because no one really wants the holiday to end."

Satya tilted her head slightly. Indicating without saying it that she wasn't sure what Sombra was talking about.

Sombra smiled. " _Dia De Metros_... uhhh... in English--Dia De Los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, is a holiday where we honor our ancestors. We celebrate and remember them, it's on those days that they are allowed to return to us, to live with us again, just for a little while. We leave gifts for them. Toys and _calaveras,_ specifically ones made of sugar, not actual skulls, for the children. Food, prized possessions, and alcohol for the adults. I leave galletas for my parents. I never knew them, but I know they're there on those days. I can't make enough calaveras for all the children that need them." She bit her lip. "It's a very important holiday, to me, to everyone in this town. We all lost people, we all miss them. But the holiday isn't about missing them, it's about remembering that we're alive. We're alive to celebrate, to know that someday we'll be coming back on the day to celebrate life once again with family we may have never gotten to know."

"They don't... come back when they die?" Satya asked quietly. "Only one day? I'm... confused. They are... not reborn?"

"Like reincarnation?" Sombra shrugged. "Maybe they are. Who's to say really? But no, our culture believes their spirits rejoin us on _Dia De Metros._ We don't have a tradition associated with reincarnation. Not like where you're from. I understand how it could be confusing to you."

"Do you... celebrate Halloween?"

"No," Sombra replied. "It's very close in date to _Dia De Metros,_ personally, I don't celebrate it. My friend Jesse does though, but he's from the United States. Do _you_ celebrate Halloween?"

Satya shook her head. "I appreciate the aesthetic and the costumes, but we don't celebrate it. Well, more specifically, we do not celebrate it at Vishkar, though they do allow us to make decorations and toys and statues for our rooms if we want. I'm not sure if other people celebrate it, I don't think it's very big, but it might be."

"Do you make decorations for your room?" Sombra asked quietly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I know... or feel like... you prefer not talking."

"I do," Satya replied. "Both, make decorations, and prefer not talking. But it's rude to not talk to someone you're walking with, is it not?"

"I don't think it's particularly rude," Sombra replied. "In fact, if you prefer it, we can just walk together quietly."

"Sofia," Satya said quietly. "I know we're not friends, and it's probably because of who I work for and why I'm here, but..." there was a pause, like Satya was trying to sort through all the languages in her head to come up with the proper wording for whatever she wanted to ask then she finished simply with, " _someday, you will help me make the world better, won't you?"_

That wasn't what Sombra was expecting, and it wasn't something she could promise to do either. She didn't want to disappoint Satya, and their ideas of what would make the world better were very similar, but she couldn't promise to help Satya. It may just put the girl in more danger, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. "I can't make a promise like that," she replied. "However, I can promise that I will also try to make the world better."

"Change is gradual," Satya said. "How do you want things to change?"

"I have to start by taking down the guys on top," Sombra replied. "The ones who are claiming to help but are just making everything worse, throwing the very people they're supposed to be helping under the bus so to speak. We have a saying here, _El pez grande se come al chico._ 'The big fish eats the small fish' is more or less what it means. Those on top, with the most power, always get there or at least stay there by taking advantage of and destroying the little people in the process. I can't let that keep happening. I have to make the world better, I have to fix this mistake. I have to make it right."

Satya nodded. "I don't know where I stand in that right now, Sofia," she said quietly, as she pointed toward a building by the bank, on the other side of the gate to the town square. "I'm staying in that building. We're not far, I can say this. We aren't friends, that's what you want me to believe so that you won't have to face your gang and tell them you'd rather save me than everything you've worked for in the last few years. We aren't friends, that's what you have to tell yourself so that you don't feel bad about doing your job, knowing it probably conflicts with me doing mine. We aren't friends. Not yet. Someday, someday we will be. Or someday you will stand in my way and have to stop me from becoming the very thing you... we... need to fight to change the world. Thank you for being my friend for a little while, even if it won't last beyond this one night."

Sombra blinked in confusion as Satya turned started walking toward the walkway through the wall to the other side of the gate. "You're welcome?"

"You want me to believe that you're big and mean and scary, so that I won't want to be your friend, but you have a kind soul," Satya replied. "You can't deceive me like that. It won't work, you're going about it wrong. If you wanted me to believe you don't care what happens to me, you should have never let me see that you actually do."

Sombra started to say something, needed to reply to that. How did Satya figure out all that? How could she see through the things that she was refusing to say, refusing to acknowledge. She ran up to Satya and took her hand, stopping her for a moment. "Satya," she said quietly. "I know I'm going to have to hurt you one day, in order to save us both, it will probably be sooner rather than later. You're interning at LumériCo, aren't you? I want to apologize in advance. I know you're just doing your job. I don't want it to have to end the way it will, so I'll be doing my best to keep the rest of the gang from hurting you, to keep us from having a confrontation. I want you to know that as much as it's necessary for us to both remember that we aren't friends, not really, that I do care about you. You mean something to me. You are worth the slight risks I'm going to have to take to keep you safe. You are worth protecting. In the future, if we really do become actual friends someday, I want you to know that this was how it began. You and me, together in Dorado, talking gently and genuinely. Sharing dreams, sharing the future, and both believing that the other is a one of a kind beautiful young woman."

"You're not..." Satya paused slightly. "In the future, I want you to remember this: you are one of a kind, and the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Know that I wanted to kiss you."

"You want to kiss me?" Sombra gasped. "You actually want to kiss me?"

"Is that hard to believe?" Satya asked. "That someone would want to kiss you?"

"I just... you're giving me the choice?" Sombra replied, biting her lip slightly as she did so.

"I am," Satya replied once again sounding so sure of herself, like it was the most obvious thing in the entire world to her. "You can't kiss someone if they're not okay with it, that's just wrong. It's bad, and I... I'm not bad."

Sombra took a deep breath and said, "I'm not sure you actually know what you're asking."

"I know exactly what I'm asking," Satya replied firmly. "I am asking if I can kiss you."

"I..." Sombra wasn't sure about this, Satya was younger than her, she could tell that, even if she wasn't sure how much younger. She shouldn't do it. Satya needed to mature, but still... it was just a kiss, right? What harm could it possibly do? Well if she was honest, just a kiss could do quite a bit of harm. It wasn't right, she shouldn't do it. "I'm sorry, Satya, but the answer is no."

Satya nodded. "Then remember simply that I wanted to kiss you, but did not, because I respect that you said no."

Sombra bit her lip and smiled slightly, hoping that there weren't relieved tears in her eyes. She didn't think Satya needed to know how much it meant to her that Satya has so readily accepted that she'd said no. It was something she didn't need to burden Satya with. "Thank you."

:"You don't need to thank me for being a decent human being," Satya replied.

"Believe me," Sombra replied. "I do."

Satya tugged on Sombra's hand gently and motioned toward the path through the wall. "Walk with me just a little further?"

"Of course," Sombra replied. "Anything to keep you safe."

\---

She regretted it, every minute of every day that she didn't just murder José in his sleep, or while he was awake. She wasn't particular about it at this point. She was crying, and she hated it, but she couldn't leave, couldn't really even move. _José,_ her mind spit viciously, _I'll kill you._ But she could think that as much as she wanted and it would never particularly make it come true. There was too much at risk, the entire gang followed José whether they wanted to or not. Killing him would destroy everything.

"You're awake again." His voice reached her ears and she buried her face in the pillow, partly wishing she hadn't woke up, almost preferring death to whatever José was about to do or say to her.

"You're holding out on us about the LumériCo plant, I know it," José spat accusingly. "You're holding out. Why?"

Sombra tilted her head off the pillow for a moment. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"We haven't been given instructions by you to infiltrate the LumériCo plant in weeks. Why are you holding us back? We should be going in there and wrecking their shit, not sitting around waiting for whatever arbitrary thing it is _you_ are waiting for."

Sombra tried to sit up, but it was entirely too difficult to properly manage. "I'm waiting to find out how their new security system works. It's too risky to just storm in there."

"Not good enough," José snapped. "You're going in there tonight. Take Manuel with you. You two are going to find out how the security works, or I am going in there tomorrow myself." He grinned and narrowed his eyes slightly. "There's a beautiful girl there now. I've seen her a couple times. Some Indian with a fake arm. I've been wanting a reason to go in there and make her mine. Figure out how the security works. You have one chance. I have no doubts that girl has something to do with the increased security, and I know I can get her to tell me how it works. It won't be pretty, and who knows, _maybe_ I won't have to kill her."

Sombra closed her eyes for a moment, allowing no emotions to pass over her face. She couldn't let on that she knew who he was talking about, that she cared what happened to that girl. It would mean disaster for both of them if José learned that she cared, that she wanted to keep Satya safe. _Satya, please, stay safe._ They weren't friends, they weren't. She hadn't actually talked to Satya since the night she met her, but she still cared. It was a bit stupid honestly.

_Remember that I wanted to kiss you, but did not because I respect that you said no._

She picked her head off the pillow then. "Tell Manuel to meet me at the town square at midnight."

José nodded then walked over to the bed and sat down on it.

Sombra bit her lip and pressed her face back into the pillow, hard, when she felt José's hand on the small of her back. _Why can't you just leave me alone to recover?_

It was hours later that Satya finally pulled herself out of bed and left the headquarters to head over to the bakery. She had something she wanted to do before she infiltrated the power plant, and several hours to do it in. She was cleaned up, not wearing any of her Los Muertos attire, she'd even brushed out _and washed_ her hair (whoever it was that invented the hairspray and gel that held up mohawks without glue deserved to be a Nobel Prize winner honestly). For her own sake, she hoped she at least looked presentable.

She took a deep breath, then pushed open the door to the bakery.

" _Good afternoon, Sylvia_ ," she said as she walked in.

"Sofia!" Sylvia gasped from behind the counter. " _I wasn't expecting you. I'm afraid I don't have any chocolate chip galletas._ "

" _Disappointing, but I'm not here for the galletas today..._ " Sombra replied walking over and leaning against the wooden part of the counter next to the cash register.. " _I wanted to ask you about something, if I could._ "

" _What do you want to ask?_ " Sylvia asked. " _And don't lean on the counter like that._ "

" _Have you been flirting with me?_ " Sombra replied, standing up straight from the counter. She hated standing tall like that, it made everyone else look so small.

Sylvia blushed hotly and stammered out some kind of response that Sombra didn't quite catch before saying, " _Yes."_

Sombra smiled slightly. " _I've been flirting with you too._ " She bit her lip and added onto that quietly, " _Where do we go from here?_ "

Sylvia stood there behind the counter quietly tapping her fingers on the counter for a moment before replying, " _Are you free to have dinner with me tomorrow?_ " She smiled slightly. " _That's what you do, when your flirting pays off. You go on a date_."

Sombra nodded slightly. " _I think I might be free for that,_ " she replied. She considered what to say next, she'd honestly not thought she would get that far, half thinking that she'd been mistaken about the flirting after all, knowing that maybe she needed to figure out what _her_ next step should be instead of just expecting Sylvia to know or do everything. " _Isn't a kiss also something you do when your flirting pays off?"_

 _"Oh my god, amiga you are clueless_ ," Sylvia replied. " _I thought you were supposed to be the smartest person in all Dorado?_ "

 _She called me amiga!_ Sombra chuckled slightly. " _Hey, no one ever said that being smart meant I had to understand how flirting works._ "

Sylvia nodded slightly, as though what Sombra had said actually made sense. " _Well do you understand how kisses work, amiga, or do I need to teach you that too_?"

Sombra started to reply that of course she knew how kisses work, but then stopped. _She's flirting with me again! "You could teach me how kisses works,_ " she replied with a faux innocent smile.

Sylvia smirked slightly. " _Well first you... never kiss someone while they're working._ "

Sombra pouted slightly. " _Then take a break? There's no one here but us._ "

Sylvia laughed. " _You want to kiss me that badly?_ "

Sombra started to reply but stopped, her mouth still hurt from this morning if she were to be honest. She wasn't sure she'd be any good at giving kisses. There had to be some way to tell Sylvia what she wanted without it sounding... like a demand, or stupid, or like she didn't actually want to kiss Sylvia (which she did, just not right now).

Sylvia’s laughter faded away quickly. " _Sofia, are you alright? Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, If you were joking--_ "

" _I wasn't joking, and you didn't say anything wrong,_ " Sombra replied quickly. " _Please don't be upset, Sylvia, it's nothing you did, I promise._ "

Sylvia walked out from behind the counter and around to Sombra without a word. She reached out and took Sombra's hand, leading her quickly and quietly over to a chair at a small table. " _Sit, please._ " Once Sombra had sat down, Sylvia pulled the other chair around from the other side of the table and sat it next to Sombra for herself to sit in. " _Sofia, whatever happened, whoever hurt you.... I want you to understand that I am not them. I don't know them. You can trust me._ "

Sombra nodded slightly. " _I know you're not them. You're so much better than them. You're wonderful, and smart, and beautiful, and kind, and gentle, and..._ " She trailed off as she looked at Sylvia’s face. " _I don't want you to worry about me._ "

Sylvia put her hand gently on Sombra's and then leaned over, brushing her lips against Sombra's cheek for a brief moment. " _And you're all those things too_ ," she replied. " _I know that you're younger than me. I know that you don't want me to know that you're with Los Muertos. I know that you're a girl, but that a lot of people don't know that. I know you like me, you want me to be safe, you think it will protect me if we aren't together. I know that you're scared._ "

Sombra bit her lip. " _How?_ "

" _I am not dumb, amiga, and you are not as big a mystery as you'd like to pretend_ ," Sylvia replied. " _I respect all of that. It's why I'm giving you the choice. I don't need to be able to call you my girlfriend, I don't need you to be my girlfriend. I just need to know that we make each other happy. You need someone who makes you happy._ "

" _Sylvia, you're an adult and I'm not. You know this, yet you'd still want me?_ "

" _You're only a year and a half younger than I am, Sofia,"_ Sylvia replied. _"I know this, and yet, I would like you to be happy. That could be with me, it could be with someone else, I don't care. You should be happy."_

" _But why would you want me happy, if you don't also get to be happy?_ ' Sombra asked, well more pleaded really, it didn't make sense to her. _Why would anyone want the person to love to be happy if they don't also get to be happy?_

Sylvia brought her free hand up to Sombra's face gently resting it on Sombra's cheek. " _It would make me very happy to see you happy._ "

Sombra nodded. " _I want to kiss you, I want to, but I shouldn't. Tell me, please, you have rules about kisses don't you? What are they?_ "

Sylvia gently ran her thumb over Sombra's cheek, causing Sombra to blush quite a bit. " _Rules about kisses? Well... first, you don't kiss someone who said no. You don't kiss someone at work. You don't kiss someone to make them stop talking. You don't kiss someone who can't tell you no. Don't kiss someone who is crying That's pretty much all my rules honestly. Most of my rules are just being a decent person._ "

Sombra nodded slightly, those all sounded like very nice rules to have. ' _I want to kiss you, but it wouldn't be a good idea._ "

Sylvia squeezed Sombra's hand reassuringly. " _That's alright, but do you mind telling me why it wouldn't be a good idea?_ "

Sombra considered this carefully. She could tell the truth, that she was scared she'd be bad at it, that she'd hurt Sylvia somehow, that she'd cry or panic or something like that. She could, but Sylvia would just worry about her, and that's not what Sombra wanted. " _My mouth hurts and I'm afraid kissing would just make it worse,_ " she replied instead, not a complete lie, but not the whole truth. It would have to be good enough. It needed to be good enough. It would be bad if she made Sylvia worry about her.

Sylvia nodded and gently placed a kiss on Sombra's forehead. " _I hope your mouth feels better soon, amiga._ "

Sombra smiled shyly and nuzzled against Sylvia's hand. " _Is it hard?_ "

_"Is what hard, amiga?"_

_"Being the most beautiful woman in town._ "

Sylvia blushed and chuckled. " _I don't know, why don't you tell me?_ "

Sombra blushed too and smiled. " _Well, I wouldn't know, I don't know what it's like to be you._ " This was nice. She could sit here and bask in this feeling all day. It was the nicest feeling ever. She had work to do though, and she'd get it done, but there were still several hours before she needed to be in the town square. There was no reason to rush this meeting, this exchange this pleasant feeling.

" _Sofia, that girl from India, I know you are the one who showed her how to get here,_ " Sylvia said. It was a drastic change of topic, but Sombra didn't bother mentioning that. " _She's working with LumériCo. I don't know if you can actually do anything about it or not, but please don't let your gang hurt her. She doesn't know what LumériCo is doing. She doesn't know who she's working with, what she's aiding. I'm worried about her. It's wrong, what LumériCo is doing, what she's helping them continue being able to do, but she shouldn't be punished for that, especially since she doesn't know about it._ "

Sombra nodded. " _I'm doing everything I can to keep her safe. She wants to make the world a better place, she just doesn't know that she's helping the wrong people. Someday, I'll be able to show her the truth, be able to tell her what's going on, and she'll know, and she'll turn on them for lying to her."_

 _"Yes, but 'someday' is in the future and she's in the now,_ " Sylvia replied. _"Do what you can. Let her best you in a fight if you have to, but find some way to tell her what LumériCo is doing. They're using her, I just don't know how."_

 _"She designed the new security system, I'm sure of it,"_ Sombra replied _. "She should know how it works."_

 _"She called them sentries,"_ Sylvia replied. _"She was here yesterday, and told me a little about them. They are like little robots. They sense movement and then stun whoever they hit with a laser."_

 _"Did she happen to mention how they know the difference between a friend and an enemy or an animal?"_ Sombra asked.

 _"No,_ " Sylvia replied. " _She did mention though that she's been working closely with their chief of security, asked if I knew if Maria had any children._ " Sylvia moved her hands away from Sombra to adjust her hairnet slightly. " _She seemed convinced that Maria would make an excellent mother, I think she actually might consider Maria a mother figure. It's odd, I don't think she's known Maria for more than a couple weeks. I feel bad for her that someone she's known for so little time is more like a mother to her than anyone else she knows._ "

 _There's something a bit odd about everything relating to Satya_ , Sombra thought, but she wasn't going to mention that to  Sylvia, because it wasn't her place and Sylvia didn't need to know. It wouldn't do to worry Sylvia with extra details like that. Sombra bit her lip and nodded. She'd do what she could to help Satya, she would. " _I promise I'm going to find a way to tell her the truth, I just hope she actually believes me when I do._ "

Sylvia nodded. " _You should do it sooner, rather than later._ "

" _I'm going back to LumériCo tonight, if I see her there, I'll try to talk to her, but if I don't I'll find her tomorrow,_ " Sombra said firmly, she was sure of this. 

Satya needed to know what was going on, and she needed to know it as soon as possible. Satya wouldn't want to hear what Sombra had to tell her, but Sombra would tell her anyway, no matter what, Satya needed to know the truth, she needed to know that she was working for people who only claimed to be making the world better but were actually just keeping it the same. Satya needed to know she was being lied to. Hell, maybe she did already know they were lying to her. It would make sense after their last conversation, if she was working with LumériCo, then she had to know that Los Muertos had been breaking into the plant, she had to understand that when she'd said that she was fighting against people who threw the ones in need under the bus to get and keep their power, that she meant LumériCo, and companies like them. She had to know all this. Satya wasn't stupid.

 _"Try not to hurt her too much, she'll probably fight you for telling her this,"_  Sylvia said. _"She seemed pretty confident that LumériCo wasn't doing anything wrong. So you'd better be prepared for the possibility that she won't listen."_

Sombra nodded.  _"I am, I'll make her see what's right, without hurting her. I just hope she can forgive me when it's over."_

 _"I just hope you can forgive yourself when it's over."_  Sylvia replied.  _"You care about that girl, barely even know her but you care."_

_"She's just a child, she doesn't deserve the things people have said to her."_

_"She's 15,"_ Sylvia said.  _"Not much younger than you."_

 _"I'm young enough,"_ Sombra said. _"She's younger, we're both children as far as life is concerned. She's naive, doesn't know how the world works."_

_"And you?"_

_"I at least understand that the world isn't going to change just because I want it to. She understands that, but she doesn't understand that the system isn't going to help her fix its own problems."_

_“Sofia, are you sure that you can get through to her?”_

Sombra bit her lip. “ _I don't have much choice, Sylvia. It's get through to her and hold my gang back until she's gone or watch her die. I'm not going to watch her die._ ”

Sylvia nodded. " _Good luck, Sofia, you're going to need it._ "

Sombra leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Sylvia's forehead. " _Thank you._ "

\---

Midnight was one of the worst times to be outside, she waited for a while, hating every minute that the Manuel was late. He should have been there twenty minutes ago, but instead she was still waiting. _Did José even tell him to meet me here?_ She needed him to show up already. They needed to talk about the plan before they got to the plant. She decided that if he didn't show up in the next ten minutes, she was going in alone. She didn't need him for her plan, she was only bringing him because José told her to. Of course, she shouldn't disobey José, but what choice did she have? She couldn't stand around waiting all night. Chances are if she did, José would just go in there anyway and take whatever he wanted. Considering what he wanted was Satya, she couldn't let that happen (even knowing that Satya wouldn't be there this late at night).

The minutes passed slowly, Sombra growing increasingly impatient as they did so. It was 45 minutes after midnight when Manuel finally showed up. He was panting like he’d ran the whole way. _Where the fuck was he?_

"It's about time," she hissed.

"Sorry, I--"

"Never mind the excuse," Sombra interrupted. "What matters is that you're here and we need to talk about the plan."

Manuel nodded. "Right, what do we need to do?"

"First," Sombra replied. "We need to get past the dogs. Then we need to locate one of the defense sentries--"

"What's that?'

"Some kind of little robot thing they've installed," Sombra replied. "I don't know how many they have, what they look like, or where they've set them up. But we need to locate one and steal it."

Manuel tilted his head. "How will we know when we've found one if we don't even know what they look like?"

Sombra closed her eyes for a second, resisting snapping at him to stop asking so many questions that she only has vague answers to. "It will be the thing shooting a laser at us."

"That's easy enough to remember. Can you hack them?"

"That's what we need to grab one for, to find out," Sombra replied. "But I should be able to. Anything can be hacked."

"Can you hack the sun?"

Sombra frowned. This wasn't the time for stupid jokes like that. She needed him to focus. To focus and concentrate on what's needed of him during the mission. " _Anything can be hacked."_

"You sound pretty confident of that," Manuel said. "After we get one of those sentries, what then?"

"The easiest thing would be to leave with it and figure out how it works back at the hideout," Sombra replied.

Manuel nodded. "The easiest... but that's not what we're going to do, is it?"

"No," Sombra replied. "We're going to break into the security room, and steal the plant's blueprints. Also look for a map or something, anything indicating where the sentries are set up." She started to include that while they were there she was going to search LumériCo's computer database for any information they had on Vishkar, but decided that Manuel did not need that information. If she told him it, he'd ask questions she didn't want to answer, like why she thought LumériCo would have that information, why she needed it, what Vishkar even is, and how she knows if they're even involved with LumériCo or not. All those answers would just put herself and Satya in danger. She couldn't risk it, not even a little. It wasn't worth the damage that would be done.

"How do you know about the sentries?" Manuel asked.

Okay, that was a question she hadn't been expecting. "I overheard one of the guards talking about them the other day." Lies were easy, but if she got caught lying it would be a huge problem for her. She wouldn't get caught though. She knew that, she was better than that. Still, she needed to be careful. "We need to go now."

Manuel nodded. "Then we should get to it."

She led Manuel to the power plant, a back entrance to it from one of the side streets. _This should be relatively easy._ If LumériCo was smart, they'd have set up a sentry by this entrance, which means grabbing one and figuring out how it ticks should be a relatively simple task from this point. She paused at the entrance, tossing a rock through to see if the dogs were nearby.

Manuel started to say something to her but she shushed him quickly. His voice would certainly draw the dogs. Honestly she preferred working alone. Having someone else with her was dangerous. They’d most likely just cause her trouble. Like she needed more trouble in her life.

She stepped around the corner of the entrance quickly and quietly. Glancing around as she did so, there didn't appear to be anything that even remotely looked like a little robot. It was a bit concerning. Did they not expect someone to come in this entrance? And where were the dogs?

Manuel slipped in behind her.

"Should I check further in?" he asked quietly.

Sombra nodded. "The sentries _should_ only stun if they hit you. No use in killing someone who's trespassing," she explained. "It's better to keep the trespasser alive so they can be questioned."

"Right," he said. He took off at a brisk run across the short path of grass between the gate and the edge of the building.

She started to follow him, but stopped cold not even two steps away from the wall. She felt the buzz before she saw the laser hit Manuel. _Something's not right._ She waited for Manuel to get back up. He was only stunned, right? _Satya wouldn't lie about the sentries, would she? Did she know that Sylvia would tell me what was said about them? Did she deceive us on purpose?_  She waited. A minute passed, then two, then three. She slipped up carefully, stopping a little short of where Manuel had fallen. _This is wrong. Very wrong._

Manuel's face was frozen in shock, and there were burn marks on the back of his shirt. _No._ Sombra stared at him in horror. _No, no, no. This is wrong._ She reached down quickly, checking his pulse and confirming her suspicions. He was dead.

The lasers were quick, she'd noticed that when they hit Manuel, but they hadn't targeted her yet. She kicked one of the little sentries away. In all honesty, it looked just like a shiny rock on a perch. She hated it. It was so simultaneously hidden and out of place. It bounced off the ground a few feet away, not making a lot of noise as it did so, it was lighter than it looked. She snatched up the other one and wrapped it in her jacket, hoping to block the sensor. She needed to take this thing apart. _I'm so sorry Manuel. I'm sorry. I never wanted you to come with me, but I didn't want you dead either._

She paused for a moment. _I can't just leave him here._ She took a deep breath. _This is all my fault, I should have told him to stand guard, not allowed him to rush in like that. I should have done something different. I could have saved him. I should have..._ Her whole body trembled slightly. This was bad. José would blame her for this. She was going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble over this matter, but it wasn't like she'd done this on purpose. She couldn't have known. José had to know that. They were risking their lives every time they came into this plant.

She rolled Manuel over and sat the wrapped up sentry on his chest before picking him up, bridal style. This was bad. She shivered again. Part of her hoped she was wrong and that he'd wake up at any moment, telling her that she was a softie and ask her why they weren't going to search for the blueprints. _He can't be dead._

She took off back out of the gate, trying her best to hold back tears as she did so. Everything about this was wrong. Everything.

She'd promised not to hurt Satya. She promised. But god help her if Satya knew about this, if Satya knew these things were killers, she'd make that girl regret ever setting foot in Dorado.

\---

She was right about it. José had been angry, but to her great shock, he wasn't angry at her. He was angry in general. She had watched him pace and cuss in general, at LumériCo, at the sentry, at the world, for nearly an hour before he told her simply. "Figure it out. Make them pay."

What was frustrating about the whole situation, what had her pacing, mumbling to herself, cussing and throwing screwdrivers at the wall in her own room, wasn't that she was pissed at herself for letting Manuel die. She was, but it wasn't that. She couldn't figure out a damn thing about the sentry. It's case was uniform. One piece of metal fitted around the internal components. As far as she could tell, those components consisted of wires and a high powered laser. If she was lucky and could figure out how to crack open the casing without busting it, maybe at best there might also be a circuit board and microprocessor in there. Probably a wireless receiver too so they could be controlled remotely. Those things would all make sense.

 _Had Satya built them? Were they made of light?_ Sombra shook her head. Somehow this thing didn't seem to be constructed with the same care that Satya had put into her work when making the rose. She looked over at the rose sitting on top of the keyboard to her computer. _How could someone who was so vested in making the world a better place, work for people who were so against that happening? How could someone who was so kind and innocent stand by and let people die at the hands of her own inventions?_

Giving up on all other methods of getting into the sentry, she took a hammer out of the toolbox by her desk and hit the sentry. Hard. But the hammer just bounced off, nearly smacking her in the face in the process.

"Fuck this thing," she cursed. "I hate it."

She took her jacket off the back of her chair, and left the hideout. Satya _would_ tell her how this damn thing worked, or Satya _would_ regret ever meeting her.

 _I know we're not friends. That's what you want me to believe. We aren't friends, that's what you have to tell yourself so that you don't feel bad about doing your job, knowing it probably conflicts with me doing mine._ Satya's voice ran through Sombra's head as she made her way through the streets toward the power plant. She stuck to the shadows once she was close. The last thing she needed was for a LumériCo guard to catch her talking to Satya. They'd likely shoot first and ask questions later. Even as angry as she was, she knew she couldn't let them think Satya was conspiring against them, or willingly working with the people who were trying their hardest to cut them down.

She spotted Satya standing outside the main entrance to the LumériCo plant. A dangerous location for a confrontation. There was a woman with her, talking to her. She was too far away, and moving too slowly (avoiding being seen) to hear everything, but she did hear what the woman said right before walking away.

"I'll be in my office when the pizza gets here."

Once the woman was gone, she laughed. _They have her waiting on pizza. Some valuable asset she must be to them. She's no better than any of the other interns._

"You are probably the smartest _child_ I have ever met," Sombra said, stepping out from the shadows dramatically. _She hates being called a child._ "And they have you waiting for _pizza_."

Satya smiled at her. "Hi, Sofia," she said. "Are you having fun?"

 _What the actual fuck? Did she forget we're not friends?_ Sombra steeled herself slightly. This was going to get rough. It would have to, there was no other way to protect Satya now. If anyone else saw, if she even for a moment let down her guard and was actually friendly to Satya, they'd both be dead. "Actually," she said doing her best to sound intimidating while also not being directly angry. _Something's not right. If she knew the sentries were driving back Los Muertos by being killers, why was she still being friendly toward one of their most important members?_ "I'm here to kick you. You're what's keeping us out."

Satya tilted her head. "What do you mean?" Either she didn't understand what the phrase 'kick you' meant, or she wasn't sure why Sombra was saying it was her keeping Los Muertos out. Either way, something wasn't right. This whole situation felt like some kind of set up. _But who is being set up?_

"You are the reason we can't break in," Sombra replied striding up to Satya and poking her shoulder roughly. "Tell me how to disable them." Demands might get through to Satya, she hoped they would at least.

"What are you--"

This wasn't going to get them anywhere. The calm approach wasn't working. She roughly shoved Satya back against the wall, pinning her by her right shoulder. _Is her prosthetic the stronger arm?_ “You know _exactly_ what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb with me Vishkar brat. We already lost one member to your damn sentries.”

Satya's eyes almost immediately filled with panic. "They're only supposed to stun!"

 _She... she's not lying._ Sombra hesitated for a moment unsure of what exactly she was supposed to say to that. Satya wasn't aware that the sentries were killers. She seemed terrified of that. _They changed her design. They had to. She doesn't want to hurt anyone. Those fuckers, I'll make them pay for this._

"They can be _only supposed to_ all you want, brat," she snapped, "but they aren't." Maybe if she let her anger show through, Satya would be scared enough to tell her what she wanted to know. Perhaps she didn't even need to be so rough about it, maybe knowing her sentries were being used in a way she didn't agree with was enough to make her talk. She wasn't sure. "Tell me how to turn them off." She put her hand on her gun. Someone was sure to have heard their argument by now, she needed to be ready to fight the guards. They wouldn't be kind to her, especially since she was practically threatening Satya at this point.

"You can't!" _Fuck, is she... she's trying not to cry. They really did fuck up her designs. Satya, I'm sorry._ "The ones _I_ make have an off switch. These ones don't! They felt it was a flaw to be exploited not an important safety feature." _Safety feature? How... wait. Satya's don't kill they stun. If she put an off switch on them for safety then maybe part of the problem with them is the power level of the laser. She must have wanted the switch to manually deactivate them so they wouldn't overheat or pull too much power and malfunction. What the hell did she even design these for? The way she has them they'd be useless for anything larger than a single room... unless that's the whole point._

Sombra considered her words carefully. "Can they be hacked? Can you turn them off from their programming?"

"I guess?" Satya replied. She was wiggling, trying to get herself out of Sombra's grasp. _Maybe I scared her a little too much, fuck._ "I’m not sure how you would though, they’re a centralized hive mind connected only to themselves and whoever is monitoring them. There’s no access to their programming once they’re connected to the system, which is done upon activation.”

"You _guess_ ," Sombra snapped slightly. She reached up, taking her hand off her gun and pulling Satya's head back slightly by her hair. 'I'm sorry,' she mouthed, 'please.' She honestly hoped that Satya could see that he anger, her violence here, was all just a ruse in case someone saw them.

There was a blur of motion, a nasty crunch, then pain exploded through her face and her vision blurred heavily for a few seconds. Satya had slammed her prosthetic into Sombra's face palm open. _Fucking hell, Satya that fucking hurt. What the fuck. Guess she didn't realize it was a ruse._

She let loose a few choice words as she cradled her fingers under her nose, trying to stop the bleeding. "You fucking broke my nose," she hissed sharply.

When her vision cleared up, she saw that Satya was flexing her fingers, squared up slightly. _God, she's ready to fight me. Good. Maybe that'll give her some confidence, but I need to back down. Now. I can't hurt her. I can't. It's not her fault. I forced her into this corner._ "You're lucky that I don't want to murder a fucking child." She snapped. Then added quietly, almost--probably--too quiet to hear properly, "I don't want to hurt you at all. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of all this."

"Are you coming back?" Satya asked.

"Not until you're gone," Sombra replied as she started back away into the shadows again. "Thank you for giving me what I need for our plans to be successful."

The last thing she saw before turning around and running away was Satya starting down at her hands, the prosthetic one was covered in blood. _God, I hope she can forgive herself._

_\--_

If she was right, Satya had been gone for about a week. Her nose fucking hurt like hell every minute of every day, but she might have figured out how to actually defeat the sentries. Satya had said they were a hive mind. She also said they were only supposed to stun. She fully believed that Satya was absolutely right about them, about the original design being only meant to stun. She was their lead designer, so of course she should know how the original design worked. So, to get to the bottom of this, to punish those who took a tool meant to incapacitate and used it to murder, she'd have to start at the top.

That's what she was currently doing. She wasn't sure at what point Satya had decided it was worth the risk to assist her, but she did find that Satya had left the blueprints to LumériCo's new power plant, marked with the locations that the sentries were to be placed, with Sylvia. A note attached to it said "Sofia, please destroy them, my work should not be tainted like this this is not how order is achieved." There was also a strange other note marked on the blueprint. A line pointing to the Chief of Security's office and the word 'Maria'.

"Maria?" Sombra had said to Sylvia when she read that note.

 _"I told you about her,"_ Sylvia had replied. _"The girl seemed to think of her as like a mother. If she wasn't aware that the sentries had been altered, maybe Maria isn't aware either. It would make sense for the Chief of Security to want the people breaking in to be alive for questioning, and she certainly didn't sound like someone who would be okay with randomly killing people."_

 _Satya's helping me._ She had smiled slightly and kissed Sylvia's cheek. " _I will be back tomorrow, can you make me the chocolate chip galletas that have the extra big chocolate chips in them?"_

 _"For you, yes,"_ Sylvia had replied. " _Stay safe."_ She had kissed Sombra's cheek gently.

Sombra had smiled, though that really made her nose ache, and then headed out of the bakery, and straight to the power plant.

Getting in had been simple enough once she got there. The blue prints had been memorized, and it was a direct route to Maria's office from the side entrance, the one she'd tried to go in when Manuel had died. She had bit her lip, took a deep breath, and forced herself not to dwell on that minor fact. It was too important now that she keep going. She had stuck to the shadows the entire way. Using her tablet and prototype cybernetic glove to hack the security cams into looping feed of an empty hallway where the shadows failed her (inside the buildings). She had also disabled the alarms, and isolated a subroutine within the alarms that might actually be what controls the sentries. Once that was done She had waited inside Maria's office for her to return. Now, she was here.

" _Good afternoon, Maria,"_ she said with a small smirk as she pushed the door shut behind Maria, and pulled her gun from her belt. "You and I need to talk."

"Who the hell are you?" Maria snapped, starting to reach under her desk to hit the alarm button that was there.

"Don't bother with the alarm," Sombra said. "It's been disabled. You'll also find that you'll want to hear what I have to say, _friend."_ She smiled briefly and walked toward the desk. "Look, neither of us want any trouble today. We both would like to be able to go home to our loved ones and forget the things we have to do for our jobs."

"What do you want?" Maria replied calmly.

"It's simple," Sombra replied. "I want to know who fucked around with the designs to Satya's sentries. I want to know who is fucking responsible for turning them into machines of death. Satya doesn't want her technology used to murder, even if it is _technically_ justifiable in the eyes of the law. Tell me who is responsible for this, and--unless it's you--you'll be able to walk away from this encounter alive."

Maria opened her mouth to reply then stopped and frowned. "The sentries are _one_ of Satya's most prized inventions. They are useful for what she wants them used for. Keeping people out of places. She designed them for the sole purpose of keeping other students out of her room at school. Their original designs allowed only for a small modification in power output, a simple change that affected the amount of time in which the person who got hit was stunned. I liked these plans. It's impossible to question a dead body about its reasons for breaking into your property."

"Do you know who authorized the change?" Sombra asked. "If it wasn't you, if you wanted them to remain a tool of control, not murder, then who else had the authority to allow such a change to be made to their design?"

"The only two people with the authority to override my decisions in matters of company security are the Executive Assistant Rodrigo Mendoza, and the CEO Guillermo Portera," Maria replied.

Sombra nodded then let out a sigh of frustration. "I can't touch either of those guys yet. I don't have the resources."

Maria narrowed her eyes then sat down in her chair and opened a drawer on her desk, pulling out from it a laptop she had stored in it. "You disabled the alarms, correct?"

Sombra nodded. "I did. Hacking is kind of a skill that I possess. I'm quite good at it."

"This is my work laptop," Maria said. "It's connected to the company servers. Let's say, I were to leave this here... would you, in fact, be able to hack it? I'm not the best at technology, but being attached to the company servers, and my account having the second highest level of security clearance. You'd gain access to most, if not all of our company's data. Correct?"

Sombra grinned. "I would."

"Then, an equivalent exchange, _friend,"_ Maria said. "For the information I am providing you, destroy the sentries, don't just disable them, actually destroy them, and find some way to let Satya know you've righted the wrong that was done to her technology. Perhaps the information in the company servers might also tell you how the engineers knew how to modify the designs properly in the first place."

Sombra nodded. "It looks like we have ourselves a deal, _friend_. For your information, and because--despite her not knowing--I promised Satya, I will destroy the sentries. I will find out how they knew how to modify them and I will find some way to tell Satya what I have done, what you helped me do. It will be good for her to hear that you assisted in the matter. That you helped make the wrong right. This will be helping to make the future better for people like Satya. That might I'm sure of."

"You talk a lot for a master hacker," Maria pointed out. "I'm not complaining, but wouldn't it be better for you to be a bit more... subtle?"

Sombra chuckled. "I only tell you these things to set the terms of the deal in stone. Your information will make the future better. My end of the bargain will help Satya. That's important to both of us, so it must be known to both of us." She walked over and placed her cybernetic glove on the laptop, putting her gun back in her belt in exchange for her tablet, and watched the lines of code flash across the screen. Trillions of lines of code as the information was extracted and sent wirelessly from her tablet back to her desktop. After a couple minutes the hack was complete. "This has been fun," she said as she started to back out of the room. "I'll be in touch."

As she was leaving, a little notification flashing on her screen caught her attention. An encrypted email pulled from the server popped up when she touched the notice.

A simple message sent from someone with a Vishkar email address, to LumériCo's Chief Engineer:

_Satya does not understand the necessity of certain individual's deaths to the future of mankind. You will need to make the changes listed in the attached document in order for her sentries to be effective for Portera's needs. The document also lists the exact programming changes necessary to keep Satya from realizing a change has been made._

The email was unsigned, but even without knowing who exactly this person at Vishkar was (the address wasn't a name, but a series of numbers--likely an employee's id number), Sombra knew one thing. Vishkar was using Satya's genius to do things that, if Satya knew about, would cause Satya to turn on them in an instant.


	3. Spite: Deciding to do the Impossible

There are rules and there are exceptions to those rules. Satya preferred rules as exceptions just made things complicated. One rule she was currently keenly aware of was that no one under the age of 18 had ever graduated from Vishkar’s school. The average age at which people graduated was 19, well if you wanted to be technical—Satya liked being technical—that was the mode age, not the average. At the highest end of the data, you were given until age 21 to complete the task assigned to you before it was decided you were not worthy of the position you were originally considered for and reassigned. On the lowest end of the data, you were assigned the task that was to be your test on your 18th birthday and could complete it in a few months.

Satya had been thinking a lot about this lately. Absentmindedly, she glanced at the calendar on her desk. A week ago she had finished her last assignment. Through hard work and dedication she had completed everything the school had to offer. There were no more classes, labs, tests, assignments, or even internships for her to do. All that remained was the graduation test and, seeing as how yesterday was only her 16th birthday, there were still two more full years until she would qualify. Two years of wasted potential because, despite knowing more about Vishkar’s technology than any other graduates and more than most of the programmers—after all she had to live with it in a more intimate way than anyone else, she wasn’t ‘ready.’ She’d manage though, find something productive to do with her time and continue being an asset to the company.

As she sat at her desk, she stared out the window absentmindedly and sighed. She’d much rather be outside, doing… something. She wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do, there was so much she could, and at the same time, so very little. It was only clear that she needed to do something, to get up and out, and _move._ In front of her, on the desk, was a drawing she’d been working on of Sofia, the girl she’d met in Dorado. Despite that assignment being done with several months prior, she—inexplicably—couldn’t stop thinking about her since then. _I wonder if she misses me._

Sitting around drawing wasn’t very productive, however, and she felt guilty that it was all she could think to do. She hated not having something productive to do. Being nonproductive was the same as being worthless.

 She was aware of the knock on her door, almost before she was aware of her name being said through it. “Satya, may I come in?”

Sanjay, she recognized the voice. He was one of the lower management, but still very important. Too important to be bothering a student alone in her dorm. This must be very serious.

“You may,” she replied as she hid the drawing she was working on underneath the astronomy book at the edge of her desk. She wasn’t sure if she needed to hide the drawing, illustration and drawing were integral parts of architectural design work, still, she hid it anyway it was important to her and she couldn’t risk anyone asking too many questions.

She stood up from her desk when her door was opened. Sanjay nodded a polite greeting her way as he closed the door behind him. _He’s alone._

“Satya, the board and I have been reviewing your case,” Sanjay said as he walked over to the small square table sitting against the wall halfway between the door and her desk. “Please, have a seat.” He motioned to the chair across from him.

“Respectfully,” Satya said, “what case do you mean?” She walked over and sat down in the seat he’d indicated. She wasn’t sure what this could possibly be about. _Have I done something wrong?_

“In general, I’m referring to you,” Sanjay replied. “Your records, attendance, work ethic, work quality, grades, and in specifics, the details of your internship to LumériCo.”

“Is… Is this a good thing?” Satya asked. “Have I done something wrong?”

“You’ve done quite the opposite, Satya,” Sanjay replied. “The LumériCo assignment went without error on your end, though we’re still looking into the interference that Los Muertos has been posing and the trouble they’re causing. Your work is exceptional. The board wishes to impose a final test on you.”

“Is that different than the graduation exam?” Satya asked.

“Not specifically,” Sanjay replied. “However, though both will end in the same result this one will begin drastically different. For the first part, you’re to live on your own.”

“Do I not already do so?” It was a legitimate question, she had no roommates, so was that not the same as ‘living alone’?

“In a sense, but not the same sense that the board means,” Sanjay said.

“I am a bit confused,” Satya said. “What other sense is there?”

“You’re going to be moving out of this dorm, and into an apartment on your own,” Sanjay explained. “You won’t be required to adhere to a strict schedule though once your graduation exam is assigned to you, you will be expected to adhere to the deadlines strictly and promptly. You will no longer be required to eat your meals with the other students, and no one will tell you when to return to your apartment for the night, nor where you can go during the day. You will be expected to respond to work related emails promptly, however.”

“That sounds like a lot of responsibility,” Satya said.

“I’m sure you can handle it, Satya,” Sanjay said. “You are one of the best that we have. You will manage, I’m sure. I want you to look over these files, then start packing up the stuff you’re going to take with you to the apartment. In three days, Chandra and Chetan will be here to help you move. After that, it’ll be six months. In six months, we will assign you your graduation exam officially.”

“What’s in these files, then?” Satya wasn’t sure she liked the idea that she’d have to wait longer to be assigned the exam. Still, six months was a lot easier to deal with than two full years.

“Details about the assignment, and some information about a few companies that we are looking into partnerships with,” Sanjay replied. “I’m not supposed to officially give you this information until that six month mark has been reached. I don’t want to see you fail, these are just copies, I’ll be delivering the official original documents to you when the time comes.”

Satya nodded. Sanjay was putting his trust in her. _Why though?_ She knew she was being set up to fail, she didn’t have any of what you might consider ‘life skills’. She knew how to clean, but not how to cook, or where to buy food. Her communication skills were seriously lacking. She was set up to fail, there was no denying it. _So why is he so confident in me?_

“You are very confident that nothing will go wrong,” she noted. “I have only one question, now.”

“And what might that question be?” he replied.

“Am I allowed to have pets at this apartment? Or plants? Both?”

“There will be a size limit imposed I’m sure,” Sanjay said, “but I will see to it that you are allowed to have whatever you might need.”

“Thank you,” Satya replied.

“You’re welcome, Satya,” Sanjay replied as he pushed the file of documents across the table to her. “I’ll be checking in on you on occasion. I’m sure you’re going to be just fine.”

Satya smiled slightly as she took in that compliment. Sanjay wanted her to succeed, and she would, she was sure of it.

“I’ve never seen you smile before, Satya,” Sanjay noted as he stood up. “You should do it more often, you have a nice smile.”

\---

The apartment was more spacious than Satya had imagined it might be. She did however only have experience living a few places and all of them were single rooms that had everything in them. The most important thing she noticed, was that the cabinets were stocked with snack foods, nothing really substantial—pasta, cookies, and crackers mostly, with a few boxes of some kind of granola bars. The note on the counter under the cabinets said they were a gift from Sanjay and Chandra. Chandra, it turned out—Satya was unaware before the move—was Sanjay’s cousin, his aunt’s daughter, and they were rather close.

At first, Satya had hated the move. This sort of change was big, and she didn’t know what to do with it all. She was used to only having one actual room. Used to not having a restroom or kitchen all to herself. The biggest thing, Satya realized when she was looking through the cabinets, was that she was used to someone else always doing the cooking for her. She had no idea how to cook anything, and nothing to cook with.

She had known this was going to be a problem from the moment she’d been told about the apartment, but the thing that truly bothered her about it was that she didn’t have any idea where to get anything she might need. Sure, somethings could be made of hard light, she could manage them on her own. But there were other, more important, things that she needed: pots and pans, clothes, cleaning supplies, food, someone who could teach her to cook without asking too many questions, and a snake.

It would be a good test, Satya knew, if she could find someone to sell her a pet snake. She’d been researching for years how to properly care for them. Had set up tanks of plants in her room when allowed in order to practice keeping the humidity and temperatures correct. She needed a real pet, and snakes were her favorite animal.

After half an hour of unpacking, she’d gotten everything set up in her bedroom, and had gotten most everything settled in her office. That she had one of each, and they weren’t the same room, had confused her at first. She’d stopped unpacking halfway through her office stuff (which was most of her stuff actually), because she’d gotten hungry. Looking around the kitchen now though, she realized she probably should have asked about food before the others left.

On a final sweep of the kitchen she noticed a large envelope taped to her refrigerator door. She took it off and opened it to read what was inside. There was a letter, a card, and a packet of information. She started with the letter.

_Satya,_

_I know you probably wondered about how the other students got special things that you never really seemed interested in acquiring yourself—toys, games, ice cream—things of that nature. Every student at Vishkar has an account, a bank account. In it is deposited weekly, an allowance—depending on the student’s age and performance, the amount varies, though there is a minimum amount the allowance can be at each age. You have one of these accounts as well._

_The other students gain access to their accounts when they’re old enough to learn how money works. You were told about it and asked if you wished to have access to it yourself. This was when you were five._

_At that time you had asked for an arrangement. ‘A deal’ you had called it. Said that if we allowed you to use your allowance to purchase material to make your uniform out of that didn’t make you want to cry wearing it, and you succeeded in doing so on your own, that you’d accept having access to the funds at all times. Said that if you failed, you’d prefer if someone else could handle buying the items for you given you had the appropriate amount of money to purchase them._

_The deal was agreed upon, and the terms successfully met. However, you ended up deciding that you didn’t want access to the money if it meant you had to go out there yourself. This was understandable given what happened to you that day. The board determined that you understood how money worked you as you did successfully acquire the items, even having arranged to have them delivered to your room, you just did not care for leaving the school grounds. You seemed to have marked it as some kind of inconvenience that you’d have to take time to go out and purchase things yourself._

_Eventually, you seemed to have forgotten about its existence—having stopped asking about the amount of money you had before asking if you could acquire an item, and not often asking for items at all—because of this, you accumulated your allowance for years._

_Given your new living arrangement, and the independence of your new position, the board has seen fit to give you full access to your funds. You, and only you, will be able to manage your assets. Your allowance will from here forward be referred to as your salary. That is, in fact, what the allowance actually is. Every student of Vishkar is a part of the company. Every member of the company is paid. Students have their pay referred to as an allowance because it reminds them that they are not yet fully responsible for themselves._

_Included in this envelope is a card that will allow you access to your funds. It’s imperative that you do not lose this card. It is possible to have it replaced, but your account will be assessed a replacement fee if you do. There is also paperwork from the bank with information about how to access your account online to do things like check the balance or pay bills._

_Finally, it is important that you keep track of how much money you spend and how much money you have available. Don’t just assume you’ll have enough (even though you probably will)._

_\--Sanjay_

Satya picked up the card and examined it. It was small, plastic, and had her name embossed on the front. There were numbers on the back: a long number that was the card number, an expiration date, and a security code. “So this is what I use to buy things,” she mused. “Good. Now I can get food.”

She skimmed the paperwork from the bank until she found how to access her account online, then she grabbed her tablet off the counter and followed the instructions to set up her online account with the bank. She checked over the information presented to her on the account screen, and not understanding much of any of it aside from that there were weekly deposits into the account labeled ‘payroll—Vishkar—’ which each of which had a different date at the end. There were a few transactions here and there that were for minor amounts, each with a date, and most with a company name. She assumed these were the times she asked for something, because there were very few of them, and they were very scattered in occurrence. She understood that her “available balance” was how much money she had to spend, even though she didn’t understand the other numbers.

She squinted at the number on the screen trying to figure out whether or not is was in fact, a substantial amount or not. “Should be enough,” she muttered. “I can’t possibly spend that much on food in one day.”

She stuck the card in her pocket and grabbed her bag from where she’d left it on the table. “Where do I go to buy food?” she wondered aloud.

“There’s a grocery store down the street,” a voice replied, from the hallway near her open door.

Satya almost jumped, having forgotten that she’d left the door open because she couldn’t figure out how to turn on the fan and it was too hot in her apartment. She walked over to the door and looked around. Standing partly in the hallway, in front of the apartment next to hers, was a very pretty woman, with lovely hair that was layered in several colors. The woman was holding a tiny cat in her arms and leaning against the door frame.

“I didn’t mean to startle you if I did,” the woman said. “My name is Helan. I couldn’t help but overhear your question. I know it was probably rhetorical, but if you need someone to show you around, I can. I don’t have anything better to do today.”

“You’d do that for me?” Satya asked.

“You’re new around here,” Helan replied. “I’ll help you, it’s what a good neighbor does.”

Satya nodded. “Would you shop with me?”

“Do you not know how to shop on your own?” Helan asked, then seeing Satya’s slightly scared look added, “I’m joking. I’ll help you shop if you want. I know it can be scary to shop on your own.”

“I’m Satya.” She knew the statement came at the wrong point in the conversation, but she couldn’t think of what else to say.

To Helan’s credit, she took Satya’s statement in stride. “It’s nice to meet you, Satya. Are you going to be living there for a while?”

“I think so?” Satya replied. Sanjay had been unclear on whether or not this living arrangement was permanent or not. She had a feeling that unless she decided to have a family someday, something a lot of the other Vishkar employees have done, it would be. She wouldn’t decide to have a family. It wasn’t like she could even if she wanted to. “Most likely.”

“I think you’ll like it here,” Helan said. “It’s quiet, there’s not too much traffic, and if drinking is your thing, there’s a place down the street that serves the best whiskey in the city. They also have a dance floor. Decent food too.” She smiled and held up the tiny cat. “This is Nūlakam.”

“You named your cat, ‘library’?” Satya asked.

“My niece named him. It’s the only word she knows how to say,” Helan replied. “Did they tell you about the pet policy?”

“I was curious about it,” Satya asked. “I was told there’s a size limit.”

“There’s… well I guess that’s true. You can’t have a cat as big as a tiger, but you can have a fairly large cat if you wanted. Or if dogs are more your thing, someone on one of the upper floors has an akita, and down on the ground floor there’s a family with a Siberian Husky. So, I’m sure if the animal is well behaved they don’t care how large it is.”

“What about snakes?”

“Oh.” Helan thought for a minute. “Last I heard, the only rule was no venomous ones. But if you’re interested in them, I’m sure you know some of the larger species require two people to properly take care of them, and an entire room devoted to being their enclosure, also fairly large prey items to feed them.”

“I’m aware of that,” Satya replied. “I was thinking more like a corn snake or a rainbow boa, or some kind of python.”

“I know a guy who breeds corns,” Helan replied. “He’s really good at it, and he can even help you find the things you’d need to take care of one of the babies, for the right price.”

“It’s going to cost a lot?” Satya asked.

“Probably,” Helan replied. “Snakes are expensive pets and require a lot of very specific care.”

Satya nodded. “I can’t have a snake and a cat.”

“You can have up to five pets,” Helan replied.

“I mean, snakes and cats do not get along,” Satya replied. “Cats are easier to care for.”

“Cats are moody and destructive,” Helan replied. “Every pet has its downsides. Here, tell you what. If you want a pet that doesn’t require as much work as a cat or a snake, but still requires enough that you can practice the responsibility, I’ll help you get the appropriate things to have some fish.”

“Pet fish?” Satya replied. “Will they need a really big tank? My current one is full of plants.”

“Plants?” Helan asked. “If you don’t mind, can I see?”

Satya nodded and waited as Helan took Nūlakam back inside her own apartment, then came back out and shut the door. When Helan was ready, Satya walked back inside her apartment with Helan following her.

“They’re probably not impressive,” Satya said as she led Helan over to the table in her living are where she had her tank of plants set up. “They’re just succulents. Hard to kill them, I had to get rid of my more needy plants a while back because of having to go to Mexico for an internship, and it just seemed easier to have these plants instead.”

“It’s like a little desert,” Helan said. “Are the ones in the corners cacti?”

“Yeah,” Satya replied. “You’re correct. They’re tiny but they are cacti. Don’t touch them though the little needles get into your skin and that really hurts.”

“Satya,” Helan said.

“Yeah?”  Satya replied.

“Do you live here all alone?” Helan asked. “When I saw you moving in there were other people with you. Do they live with you too?”

“No,” Satya replied. “I live here alone. Chandra, Sanjay, and Chetan have their own places to live.”

“Any time you feel lonely and want some company, you can come over to my apartment as long as I’m there I’ll answer the door for you,” Helan replied.

“Thank you,” Satya replied. She wasn’t sure she would take her up on that, but it was nice of Helan to offer it. “Will I need a tank bigger than this for my fish?”

“Yes, this is the smallest tank other than a bowl, right?”

“I think so?” Satya bit her lip slightly then she added, “I’m not the one who bought it.”

“That’s okay,” Helan replied. “You’ll need a new one for your fish anyway, because your plants live in this one.”

Satya nodded, then she noticed one of her drawings of Sofia was sitting on the table haphazardly, as though it had fallen out of the folder she’d had sitting on the tank before she’d moved that to the desk in her office. “Do you draw?”

“Draw?” Helan followed Satya’s eyes and picked up the drawing. “Did you draw this?”

“Yes,” Satya admitted.

“Who’s it a drawing of? She looks like she regrets something,” Helan said.

 _Oh!_ She had been redrawing Sofia’s face in that last moment she saw her for a couple weeks trying to identify the emotion that Sofia had been trying to convey to her. Trying to figure out what Sofia had been trying to tell her. “That’s my friend, Sofia. She lives in Mexico. I met her during my internship.”

“Why does she look like she regrets something?” Helan asked.

“I think it’s because she scared me, but she had to. She was trying to protect me,” Satya replied. “I’ve been trying to figure out what that look means for a while.”

“How did she scare you?” Helan asked.

“She threatened me, she sounded really angry,” Satya replied. “I understand why she was mad, what… what I had been a part of unwillingly. I think she regretted being so angry when she realized I didn’t know about the bad things that happened because of me doing my job. I think she liked me.”

Helan nodded slightly. “Your friend was upset that something bad happened because of you, then it sounds like she was more upset, and regretted directing the anger at you when she learned that you didn’t know what happened.”

“I asked her to kiss me,” Satya said. “She said no.”

“Awww,” Helan said, “maybe she’ll kiss you next time you see her.”

“You really think so?” Satya asked, trying not to sound like the thought excited her. A lot of her classmates talked about kissing and dating, like it was something really fun and exciting. She, of course, probably didn’t have time for frivolous things like that. She could still want them though.

“Maybe,” Helan replied. “You like her a lot then?”

“She was really nice,” Satya replied. “She looked after me, made sure I didn’t get hurt. I broke her nose.”

Helan blinked. “What’d you do that for?”

“She scared me,” Satya replied, “it was instinctive. I wanted her to let me go, so I hit her. It… I didn’t realize then that she was trying to tell me she didn’t want to hurt me. I think she just needed it to look like she might hurt me in case anyone saw us. Because she… wasn’t supposed to be there.”

“Why wasn’t she supposed to be there?”

“She’s a gang member,” Satya replied. “She’s really a nice person.”

“You made friends with a gang member?”

 _Helan seems a bit confused at this, I don’t see why. Gang members are people too_. “I made friends with Sofia. She isn’t a bad person. She walked me home because there was a scary man who had hurt her before and she wanted to help me be safe. She taught me about the day of the dead. She told me that we couldn’t be friends because who I work for, and what she works for, are against each other. She wants me to be safe.”

Helan nodded. “I see. Well,” she said as she put the drawing back down where she’d picked it up from, “if I’m going to show you around, we should go while there’s still daylight.”

\---

Helan was really a very nice person. Satya had decided this the day they met, and reconfirmed it in her head every time they talked over the next few weeks. There was quite a few things that Helan had done for her that were very nice: helping her find the things she needs for her fish (the aquarium set up she had now in her bedroom was really quite nice to look at), helping her buy food, showing her the way to the movie theater, telling her stories about things her friends had been up to, letting her pet Nūlakam, showing her where the actual library was, teaching her how to make curry. Still, she found herself wondering quite often if there was something Helan wanted from her.

It stood to reason, in Satya’s mind, that for someone to be so nice to her, they must want something. Sofia had wanted her to stay safe because she wants the world to be a better place. Sanjay wanted her to succeed, though she wasn’t sure what the reason for that was. Maria had wanted her to know someone cared. Helan must want something. She must. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she was saddened by thinking about that. Everyone has a reason for everything they do. Satya herself had many reasons for doing the things she did.

“Satya?”

She was startled out of her thoughts by Sanjay’s voice on her computer. She forgot that she had answered his request for a video call. He had told her he’d be checking in on her, she’d just assumed it would be in person.

“You seem to have spaced out for a moment there,” Sanjay said. “Did you forget that you answered my call?”

“I was distracted,” Satya replied. “It won’t happen again.”

“You must have been thinking about something important, it’s not like you to get distracted mid action,” Sanjay said. “Are you settling in well?”

“I believe I am,” Satya replied. “The neighbors are nice enough to me, and everything I need is within walking distance.”

“The board half expected that you would have given up on this and requested to be back in the dorms by now,” Sanjay said. “You’ve done well in proving them wrong.”

“I have only been here for a little over a month,” Satya replied. “There is still plenty of time for them to be proven correct. However, I like this apartment. The extra space is something I didn’t realize I needed until I had it.”

“And the independence?”

“I have a routine,” Satya replied. “It was difficult, at first, to follow it. Change is difficult sometimes, but necessary. I am no less orderly now than I was in the dorms.”

“Is there anything truly difficult about this then?”

“The information you gave me on the assignment mentions Overwatch,” Satya replied. “But makes no further comments on why Overwatch would be a subject of interest in these sort of experiments. Do you know what Overwatch has to do with experiments on teleportation?”

“No,” Sanjay replied. “Whatever information they might have, we do not have access to. If any of the higher up Vishkar officials know, they won’t talk to me about it. I’m not even supposed to have accessed that note on the experiment’s files, it’s supposedly unrelated to your part in the project.”

“My part, is simply to design the device that will be used for teleportation, but none of our experiments have been successful,” Satya replied. “I feel sympathetic toward the mice that have disappeared because of this project. Should we not have started with non-living things like coins or screws or fruits?”

“I’m not part of the experiments, I don’t have an answer to that,” Sanjay replied. “Do you have any questions that I actually can answer?”

“Why do you want me to succeed at this? Everything logical about it says I would fail. The rest of the experiments have failed, why would mine be different?”

“I have faith in you, Satya,” Sanjay replied. “I believe there is a reason that when we first met you, you were using a blanket with the image of Ganesha on it.”

“I still have that blanket,” Satya replied. “It’s actually a bit of an old tapestry that’s was repurposed into a blanket.”

“I believe you were chosen for this path for a reason, Satya,” Sanjay replied.

“And you believe I will succeed, because you believe I was chosen by Ganesha?” Satya asked.

“I don’t precisely necessarily believe that Ganesha himself chose you, but I do believe you have his blessing,” Sanjay replied. “You are protected by something, Satya. Science and art are your domain. I don’t just believe you can succeed, I believe you are going to succeed. You think differently than the rest of us. Use that to your advantage, Satya.”

“And if I fail, would you stop caring about me?”

“No,” Sanjay replied. “I wouldn’t stop caring about you if you failed.”

Satya nodded, but she did not believe him. “I have to go,” she said, “I’m meeting someone for lunch in an hour and I have to get ready.”

“I’m glad you’re doing well, Satya,” Sanjay replied. “I’m sure you’ll keep it up. Good luck with your lunch.”

“Thank you, sir,” Satya replied with a small smile.

“You don’t have to call me ‘sir’,” Sanjay replied. “You know this.”

“Respectfully,” Satya said, “I prefer to do so.”

“We are friends, Satya,” Sanjay replied. “You can refer to me by name if you really wanted to.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Satya said, as she ended the video call. There were somethings she would give up to keep Sanjay on her side, but referring to him respectfully wasn’t one of them. She wasn’t entirely sure why he wanted her to refer to him with such familiarity, and she didn’t really have the time to think about it.

Helan had invited her to lunch. She saw the message at the same time she’d answered the video call, that was what had distracted her. She would join Helan. But first, she needed some answers.

It had taken her a week to track down this particular something, and she had gotten Helan to help her set up an email address outside of Vishkar’s network for it. She would find her answers, even if she had to do so a bit… not legally. She was lucky that Sofia had actually replied to her when she finally figured out her email address’ proper punctuation, and even more lucky that Helan had known about the instant messenger Sofia had suggested they use.

 

 

> _You are chatting with Sofia [Sofia.the.gangster@gmail.com]._
> 
> You >You said you were a hacker, and you refused to tell me how you do that.
> 
> Sofia > I did, and I still am not telling
> 
> You > I wasn’t going to ask. Do you know about Overwatch?
> 
> Sofia > Well that is an interesting question. What does Vishkar want with them?
> 
> You > Nothing, not everything is about Vishkar.
> 
> You > I want to know what you know.
> 
> Sofia > You have a reason for asking this before I help you should tell me what it is
> 
> You > Fine, I have an assignment for school. In order to graduate I have to help build something. A teleporter of sorts. Overwatch was mentioned in the notes, but no one will give me answers about why.
> 
> Sofia > so it is about Vishkar
> 
> You > It’s about me proving them wrong.
> 
> You > They want me to fail. They have given me an improbable, almost impossible, task. I will complete this assignment whether you help me or not. I cannot fail.
> 
> Sofia > is that confidence or arrogance
> 
> You > Spite, Helan says it’s spite.
> 
> Sofia > Helan?
> 
> You > You’re the genius hacker, you don’t already know about my new friend?
> 
> Sofia > Helan is a common name, Satya
> 
> You > Helan is my friend. She’s been helping me succeed at my current task.
> 
> Sofia > which is
> 
> You > Living in apartment on my own. Are you going to assist me or not?
> 
> Sofia > …
> 
> Sofia > Tell you what. You send me the information Vishkar has provided you for your experiment, and I’ll find you whatever it is that Overwatch has that's connected to this. Deal?

_Why does she need that information? Does she already know something? Is she hoping to use the information somehow? I… if she can use it for her own means, to make the world better, I shouldn’t get in her way._ It took a moment for Satya to reply.

 

> You > I will have to digitalize it first, unless you’d be fine with photos of the documents.
> 
> Sofia > whichever is easier for you and will get you in less trouble
> 
> You > Either one would get me into trouble if I got caught. I’m not supposed to have this information at all for a couple months. Sanjay gave it to me ahead of time to give me more time to prepare for the task.
> 
> Sofia > I’ll make sure they don’t catch you just send me what you have and I’ll find what you need to complete the task
> 
> Sofia > do you still believe they’re setting you up to fail
> 
> You > I don’t believe it, I know it. They are setting me up to fail. Sanjay is, for whatever reason, working to circumvent that. He’s risking his position to make sure I do not fail this task. I don’t know what he will gain from me completing the assignment successfully, but I know that I can’t fail because there’s a lot at stake.
> 
> Sofia > you still want to prove that you can do anything so they won’t blame your differences for why you couldn’t do it
> 
> You > I can’t let them think I am incapable of what they expect from me. I’ve worked to hard, come too far. I can’t give up now.
> 
> Sofia > what do your parents think of all this
> 
> You > Didn’t I tell you? My parents didn’t want me. That’s why they turned me over to Vishkar so readily when the offer was made for me to be in their school. They probably could not care less. They probably don’t remember me.
> 
> Sofia > damn
> 
> Sofia > I mean my parents are dead and probably wouldn’t be proud of where I am if they were still alive but I know they wanted me when they were alive. Is it tough knowing they didn’t want you
> 
> You > I try not to think about it much.
> 
> You > I’ll send you the files when I get back from lunch with Helan. Please, if you find out anything important about Overwatch’s connection to what I’m working on, I need to know soon.
> 
> Sofia > don’t worry I’m very good at what I do
> 
> You > I trust that you are.
> 
> You > Oh, and before I forget to mention it, I understand.
> 
> Sofia > understand what amiga
> 
> You > That you were trying to tell me that you didn’t want to hurt me the last time we talked in Dorado. That you regretted being angry with me when you learned that I had no idea what LumériCo was doing with my sentries. I understand now.
> 
> Sofia > I destroyed them all for you
> 
> You > Thank you. I have to go now. If I don’t, Helan’s going to start wondering what’s taking me so long, and I do dislike being late.
> 
> Sofia > have fun

There were many things that were certain to Satya after talking to Sofia again. The first was that Sofia still cared. The second was that she had been right, people always want something from you. The third was that she was incredibly hungry, and running late for meeting with Helan. The final one was exactly this: Overwatch was clearly up to something, and whatever it was, Sofia already knew about it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're enjoying the works I make, please comment/kudos.  
> If you're _really_ enjoying them, I have a [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/amaranthking) and any donations to it would greatly help me be able to make more fics (they would go toward food).


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